Transmitter and puncturing method thereof

ABSTRACT

A transmitter is provided. The transmitter includes: a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder configured to encode outer-encoded bits to generate an LDPC codeword including LDPC information bits and parity bits; a puncturer configured to puncture some of the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword; and a mapper configured to map the LDPC codeword except the punctured parity bits to symbols for transmission to a receiver, wherein the puncturer calculates a number of parity bits to be punctured among the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword based on a number of the outer-encoded bits, a number of the LDPC information bits, and a minimum number of parity bits to be punctured among the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO THE RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2015-0137190 filed on Sep. 27, 2015 and U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 62/126,872, 62/130,961 and 62/137,910 filed on Mar. 2, 2015, Mar. 10, 2015 and Mar. 25, 2015, respectively, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND

1. Field

Apparatuses and methods consistent with the exemplary embodiments inventive concept relate to a transmitter and a puncturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a transmitter puncturing some of Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) parity bits and a puncturing method thereof.

2. Description of the Related Art

Broadcast communication services in information oriented society of the 21^(st) century are entering an era of digitalization, multi-channelization, bandwidth broadening, and high quality. In particular, as a high definition digital television (TV) and portable broadcasting signal reception devices are widespread, digital broadcasting services have an increased demand for a support of various receiving schemes.

According to such demand, standard groups set up broadcasting communication standards to provide various signal transmission and reception services satisfying the needs of a user. Still, however, a method for providing better services to a user with more improved performance is required.

SUMMARY

The exemplary embodiments of the inventive concept may overcome disadvantages of the related art signal transmitter and receiver and methods thereof. However, these embodiments are not required to or may not overcome such disadvantages.

The exemplary embodiments provide a transmitter and a puncturing method thereof capable of calculating the number of parity bits to be punctured according to a specific scheme and puncturing bits as many as the calculated number from parity bits.

According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a transmitter which may include: a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder configured to encode outer-encoded bits to generate an LDPC codeword including LDPC information bits and parity bits; a puncturer configured to puncture some of the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword; and a mapper configured to map the LDPC codeword except the punctured parity bits to symbols for transmission to a receiver, wherein the puncturer calculates a number of parity bits to be punctured among the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword based on a number of the outer-encoded bits, a number of the LDPC information bits, and a minimum number of parity bits to be punctured among the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword.

The number of parity bits to be punctued among the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword may be determined according to Equation 8 in which A represents a ratio of the number of parity bits to be punctured to a number of zero bits to be shortened, and B represents the minimum number of parity bits to be punctured.

The minimum number of parity bits to be punctured may be a number of parity bits to be punctured among the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword regardless of a length of shortening which removes zero bits which are padded in the LDPC information bits before the transmission.

At least one of A and B may be changed to a different value corresponding to a different robustness level while a same modulation order is used by the mapper for the symbol mapping.

According to an aspect of an exemplary embodiment, there is provided a method of puncturing which may include: encoding outer-encoded bits to generate an LDPC codeword comprising LDPC information bits and parity bits; puncturing some of the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword; and mapping the LDPC codeword except the punctured parity bits to symbols for transmission to a receiver, wherein a number of parity bits to be punctured among the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword is calculated based on a number of the outer-encoded bits, a number of the LDPC information bits, and a minimum number of parity bits to be punctured among the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword.

The number of parity bits to be punctued among the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword may be determined according to Equation 8 in which A represents a ratio of the number of parity bits to be punctured to a number of zero bits to be shortened, and B represents the minimum number of parity bits to be punctured.

The minimum number of parity bits to be punctured may be a number of parity bits to be punctured among the parity bits included in the LDPC codeword regardless of a length of shortening which removes zero bits which are padded in the LDPC information bits before the transmission.

At least one of A and B may be changed to a different value corresponding to a different robustness level while a same modulation order is used by the mapper for the symbol mapping.

As described above, according to the exemplary embodiments, bits as many as the specific number among the parity bits may be punctured to improve decoding performance of a receiver.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and/or other aspects of the exemplary embodiments will be described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for describing a configuration of a transmitter, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 2 and 3 are diagrams for describing parity check matrices, according to exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a diagram for describing a frame structure, according to an exemplary embodiment;

FIGS. 5 and 6 are block diagrams for describing detailed configurations of a transmitter, according to exemplary embodiments;

FIGS. 7 to 20 are diagrams for describing methods for processing signaling, according to exemplary embodiments;

FIGS. 21 and 22 are block diagrams for describing configurations of a receiver, according to exemplary embodiments;

FIGS. 23 and 24 are diagrams for describing examples of combining Log Likelihood Ratio (LLR) values of a receiver, according to exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 25 is a diagram illustrating an example of providing information on a length of L1 signaling, according to an exemplary embodiment; and

FIGS. 26 and 27 are flow charts for describing puncturing methods, according to exemplary embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram for describing a configuration of a transmitter according to an exemplary embodiment.

Referring to FIG. 1, a transmitter 100 includes a Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) encoder 110 and a puncturer 120.

The LDPC encoder 110 may encode input bits including zero bits. In other words, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding on the input bits to generate parity bits, that is, LDPC parity bits.

Here, the input bits may include outer-encoded bits and zero bits.

In detail, the input bits are LDPC information bits for the LDPC encoding and may include outer-encoded bits and zero bits (that is, bits having a 0 value), in which the outer-encoded bits include information bits and parity bits (or parity check bits) generated by outer-encoding the information bits.

The information bits may be signaling (alternatively referred to as signaling bits or signaling information). The information bits may include information required for a receiver 200 (as illustrated in FIG. 21 or 22) to receive and process data or service data (for example, broadcasting data) transmitted from the transmitter 100.

The outer encoding is a coding operation which is performed before inner encoding in a concatenated coding operation, and may use various encoding schemes such as Bose, Chaudhuri, Hocquenghem (BCH) encoding and/or cyclic redundancy check (CRC) encoding. In this case, an inner code for inner encoding may be an LDPC code.

For LDPC encoding, a specific number of LDPC information bits depending on a code rate and a code length are required. Therefore, when the number of outer-encoded bits generated by outer-encoding the information bits is less than the required number of LDPC information bits, an appropriate number of zero bits are padded to obtain the required number of LDPC information bits for the LDPC encoding. Therefore, the outer-encoded bits and the padded zero bits may configure the LDPC information bits as many as the number of bits required for the LDPC encoding.

Since the padded zero bits are bits required to obtain the predetermined number of bits for the LDPC encoding, the padded zero bits are LDPC-encoded, and then, are not transmitted to the receiver 200. As such, a procedure of padding zero bits, or a procedure of padding the zero bits and then, not transmitting the padded zero bits to the receiver 200 may be referred to as shortening. In this case, the padded zero bits may be referred to as shortening bits (or shortened bits).

For example, it is assumed that the number of information bits is K_(sig) and the number of bits when M_(outer) parity bits are added to the information bits by the outer encoding, that is, the number of outer-encoded bits including the information bits and the parity bits is N_(outer) (K_(sig)+M_(outer)).

In this case, when the number N_(outer) of outer-encoded bits is less than the number K_(ldpc) of LDPC information bits, K_(ldpc)−N_(outer) zero bits are padded so that the outer-encoded bits and the padded zero bits may configure the LDPC information bits together.

The foregoing example describes that zero bits are padded, which is only one example.

When the information bits are signaling for data or service data, a length of the information bits may vary depending on the amount of the data. Therefore, when the number of the information bits is greater than the number of LDPC information bits required for the LDPC encoding, the information bits may be segmented into a plurality of bit groups so that the number of information bits in each group is less than a specific value.

Therefore, when the number of the information bits or the number of segmented information bits is less than a number obtained by subtracting the number of parity bits generated by the outer encoding from the number of LDPC information bits, zero bits are padded as many as the number obtained by subtracting the number of outer-encoded bits from the number of LDPC information bits so that the LDPC information bits may be formed of the outer-encoded bits and the padded zero bits.

However, when the number of information bits and the number of segmented information bits are equal to the number obtained by subtracting the number of parity bits generated by the outer encoding from the number of LDPC information bits, the LDPC information bits may be formed of only the outer-encoded bits without the padded zero bits.

The foregoing example describes that the information bits are outer-encoded, which is only one example. However, the information bits may not be outer-encoded and configure the LDPC information bits along with the zero bits padded depending on the number of information bits or only the information bits may configure the LDPC information bits without separately padding zero bits.

For convenience of explanation, the outer encoding will be described below under an assumption that it is performed by BCH encoding.

In detail, the input bits will be described under an assumption that they include BCH encoded bits and the zero bits, the BCH encoded bits including the information bits and BCH parity-check bits (or BCH parity bits) generated by BCH-encoding the information bits.

That is, it is assumed that the number of the information bits is K_(sig) and the number of bits when M_(outer) BCH parity-check bits by the BCH encoding are added to the information bits, that is, the number of BCH encoded bits including the information bits and the BCH parity-check bits is N_(outer)(=K_(sig)+M_(outer)). Here, M_(outer) 168.

The foregoing example describes that zero bits, which will be shortened, are padded, which is only one example. That is, since zero bits are bits having a value preset by the transmitter 100 and the receiver 200 and padded only to form LDPC information bits along with information bits including information to be substantially transmitted to the receiver 200, bits having another value (for example, 1) preset by the transmitter 100 and the receiver 200 instead of zero bits may be padded for shortening. As described above, the information bits may be signaling. For example, the information bits may be signaling for broadcasting data transmitted by the transmitter 100.

The LDPC encoder 110 may systematically encode LDPC information bits to generate LDPC parity bits, and output an LDPC codeword (or LDPC-encoded bits) formed of the LDPC information bits and the LDPC parity bits. That is, an LDPC code for the LDPC encoding is a systematic code, and therefore, the LDPC codeword may be formed of the LDPC information bits before being LDPC-encoded and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding.

For example, the LDPC encoder 110 may LDPC-encode K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits i=(i₀, i₁, . . . , i_(K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹) to generate N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity) LDPC parity bits (p₀, p₁, . . . , p_(N) _(inner) _(−K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹) and output an LDPC codeword Λ=(c₀, c₁, . . . , c_(N) _(inner) ⁻¹)=(i₀, i₁, . . . , i_(K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹, p₀, p₁, . . . , p_(N) _(inner) _(−K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹) formed of N_(inner)(=K_(ldpc)+N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity)) bits.

In this case, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform the LDPC encoding on the input bits (i.e., LDPC information bits) at various code rates to generate an LDPC codeword having a specific length.

For example, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding on 3240 input bits at a code rate of 3/15 to generate an LDPC codeword formed of 16200 bits. As another example, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding on 6480 input bits at a code rate of 6/15 to generate an LDPC codeword formed of 16200 bits.

A process of performing LDPC encoding is a process of generating an LDPC codeword to satisfy H·C^(T)=0, and thus, the LDPC encoder 110 may use a parity check matrix to perform the LDPC encoding. Here, H represents the parity check matrix and C represents the LDPC codeword.

Hereinafter, a structure of the parity check matrix according to various exemplary embodiments will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the parity check matrix, elements of a portion other than 1 are 0.

For example, the parity check matrix according to an exemplary embodiment may have a structure as illustrated in FIG. 2.

Referring to FIG. 2, a parity check matrix 20 may be formed of five sub-matrices A, B, C, Z and D. Hereinafter, for describing the structure of the parity check matrix 20, each matrix structure will be described.

The sub-matrix A is formed of K columns and g rows, and the sub-matrix C is formed of K+g columns and N−K−g rows. Here, K (or K_(ldpc)) represents a length of LDPC information bits and N (or M_(inner)) represents a length of an LDPC codeword.

Further, in the sub-matrices A and C, indexes of a row in which 1 is positioned in a 0-th column of an i-th column group may be defined based on Table 1 when the length of the LDPC codeword is 16200 and the code rate is 3/15. The number of columns belonging to a same column group may be 360.

TABLE 1 8 372 841 4522 5253 7430 8542 9822 10550 11896 11988 80 255 667 1511 3549 5239 5422 5497 7157 7854 11267 257 406 792 2916 3072 3214 3638 4090 8175 8892 9003 80 150 346 1883 6838 7818 9482 10366 10514 11468 12341 32 100 978 3493 6751 7787 8496 10170 10318 10451 12561 504 803 856 2048 6775 7631 8110 8221 8371 9443 10990 152 283 696 1164 4514 4649 7260 7370 11925 11986 12092 127 1034 1044 1842 3184 3397 5933 7577 11898 12339 12689 207 513 979 3934 4374 4658 7286 7809 8830 10804 10895 2045 2499 7197 8887 9420 9922 10332 10540 10816 11876 2932 6241 7136 7835 8541 9403 9817 11679 12377 12810 2211 2286 3937 4310 5952 6597 9692 10445 11064 11272

Hereinafter, positions (alternatively referred to as “indexes” or “index values”) of a row in which 1 is positioned in the sub-matrices A and C will be described in detail with reference to, for example, Table 1.

When the length of an LDPC codeword is 16200 and the code rate is 3/15, coding parameters M₁, M₂, Q₁ and Q₂ based on the parity check matrix 20 each are 1080, 11880, 3 and 33.

Here, Q₁ represents a size at which columns belonging to a same column group in the sub-matrix A are cyclic-shifted, and Q₂ represents a size at which columns belonging to a same column group in the sub-matrix C are cyclic-shifted.

Further, Q₁=M₁/L, Q₂=M₂/L, M₁=g, M₂=N−K−g and L represents an interval at which patterns of a column are repeated in the sub-matrices A and C, respectively, that is, the number (for example, 360) of columns belonging to a same column group.

The indexes of the row in which 1 is positioned in the sub-matrices A and C, respectively, may be determined based on an M₁ value.

For example, in above Table 1, since M₁=1080, the position of a row in which 1 is positioned in a 0-th column of an i-th column group in the sub-matrix A may be determined based on values less than 1080 among index values of above Table 1, and the position of a row in which 1 is positioned in a 0-th column of an i-th column group in the sub-matrix C may be determined based on values equal to or greater than 1080 among the index values of above Table 1.

In detail, a sequence corresponding to a 0-th column group in above Table 1 is “8 372 841 4522 5253 7430 8542 9822 10550 11896 11988”. Therefore, in a 0-th column of a 0-th column group in the sub-matrix A, 1 may be positioned in an eighth row, a 372-th row, and an 841-th row, respectively, and in a 0-th column of a 0-th column group in the sub-matrix C, 1 may be positioned in a 4522-th row, a 5253-th row, a 7430-th row, an 8542-th row, a 9822-th row, a 10550-th row, a 11896-th row, and a 11988-row, respectively.

In the sub-matrix A, when the position of 1 is defined in a 0-th columns of each column group, it may be cyclic-shifted by Q₁ to define a position of a row in which 1 is positioned in other columns of each column group, and in the sub-matrix C, when the position of 1 is defined in a 0-th columns of each column group, it may be cyclic-shifted by Q₂ to define a position of a row in which 1 is positioned in other columns of each column group.

In the foregoing example, in the 0-th column of the 0-th column group in the sub-matrix A, 1 is positioned in an eighth row, a 372-th row, and an 841-th row. In this case, since Q₁=3, indexes of a row in which 1 is positioned in a first column of the 0-th column group may be 11(=8+3), 375(=372+3), and 844(=841+3) and indexes of a row in which 1 is positioned in a second column of the 0-th column group may be 14(=11+3), 378(=375+3), and 847(=844+3).

In a 0-th column of a 0-th column group in the sub-matrix C, 1 is positioned in a 4522-th row, a 5253-th row, a 7430-th row, an 8542-th row, a 9822-th row, a 10550-th row, a 11896-th row, and a 11988-th row. In this case, since Q₂=33, the indexes of the row in which 1 is positioned in a first column of the 0-th column group may be 4555(=4522+33), 5286(=5253+33), 7463(=7430+33), 8575(=8542+33), 9855(=9822+33) 10583(=10550+33), 11929(=11896+33), and 12021(=11988+33) and the indexes of the row in which 1 is positioned in a second column of the 0-th column group may be 4588(=4555+33), 5319(=5286+33), 7496(=7463+33), 8608(=8575+33), 9888(=9855+33), 10616(=10583+33), 11962(=11929+33), and 12054(=12021+33).

According to the scheme, the positions of the row in which 1 is positioned in all the column groups in the sub-matrices A and C may be defined.

The sub-matrix B is a dual diagonal matrix, the sub-matrix D is an identity matrix, and the sub-matrix Z is a zero matrix.

As a result, the structure of the parity check matrix 20 as illustrated in FIG. 2 may be defined by the sub-matrices A, B, C, D and Z having the above structure.

Hereinafter, a method for performing, by the LDPC encoder 110, LDPC encoding based on the parity check matrix 20 as illustrated in FIG. 2 will be described.

An LDPC code may be used to encode an information block S=(s₀, s₁, . . . , s_(K−1)). In this case, to generate an LDPC codeword Λ=(λ₀, λ₁, . . . , λ_(N−1)) having a length of N=K+M₁+M₂, parity blocks P=(p₀, p₁, . . . , p_(M) ₁ _(+M) ₂ ⁻¹) from the information block S may be systematically encoded.

As a result, the LDPC codeword may be Λ=(s₀, s₁, . . . , s_(K−1), p₀, p₁, . . . , p_(M) ₁ _(+M) ₂ ⁻¹).

Here, M₁ and M₂ each represent a size of parity sub-matrices corresponding to the dual diagonal sub-matrix B and the identity matrix sub-D, respectively, in which M₁=g and M₂=N−K−g.

A process of calculating parity bits may be represented as follows. Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, a case in which the parity check matrix 20 is defined as above Table 1 will be described as one example.

Step 1) λ_(i) is initialized to be s_(i) (i=0, 1, . . . , K−1) and p_(j) is initialized to be 0 (j=0, 1, . . . , M₁+M₂−1).

Step 2) A first information bit λ₀ is accumulated in a parity bit address defined in the first row of above Table 1.

Step 3) For the next L−1 information bits λ_(m) (m=1, 2, . . . , L−1), λ_(m) is accumulated in the parity bit address calculated based on following Equation 1.

(x+m×Q ₁)mod M ₁ (if x<M ₁)

M ₁{(x−M ₁ +m×Q ₂)mod M ₂} (if x≧M ₁)   (1)

In above Equation 1, x represents an address of a parity bit accumulator corresponding to a first information bit λ₀.

Further, Q₁=M₁/L and Q₂=M₂/L. In this case, since the length of the LDPC codeword is 16200 and the code rate is 3/15, M₁=1080, M₂=11880, Q₁=3, Q₂=33, L=360.

Step 4) Since the parity bit address like the second row of above Table 1 is given to an L-th information bit λ_(L), similar to the foregoing scheme, the parity bit address for next L−1 information bits λ_(m) (m=L+1, L+2, . . . 2L−1) is calculated by the scheme described in the above step 3. In this case, x represents the address of the parity bit accumulator corresponding to the information bit λ_(L) and may be obtained based on the second row of above Table 1.

Step 5) For L new information bits of each group, the new rows of above Table 1 are set as the address of the parity bit accumulator, and thus, the foregoing process is repeated.

Step 6) After the foregoing process is repeated from the codeword bit λ₀ to λ_(K−1), a value for following Equation 2 is sequentially calculated from i=1.

P _(i) =P _(i) ⊕P _(i−1)(i=1,2, . . . M ₁−1)   (2)

Step 7) The parity bits λ_(K) to λ_(K+M) ₁ ⁻¹ corresponding to the dual diagonal sub-matrix B are calculated based on following Equation 3.

λK _(+L×t+s) =p _(Q) ₁ _(×s+1)(0≦s<L,0≦t<Q ₁)   (3)

Step 8) The address of the parity bit accumulator for the L new codeword bits λ_(K) to λ_(K+M) ₁ ⁻¹ of each group is calculated based on the new row of above Table 1 and above Equation 1.

Step 9) After the codeword bits λ_(K) to λ_(K+M) ₁ ⁻¹ are applied, the parity bits λ_(K+M) ₁ to λK_(+M) ₁ _(×M) ₂ ⁻¹ corresponding to the sub-matrix D are calculated based on following Equation 4.

λ_(K+M) _(1+L×t+s) =p _(M) ₁ _(+Q) ₁ _(×s+1)(0≦s<L,0≦t<Q ₂)   (4)

As a result, the parity bits may be calculated by the above scheme. However, this is only one example and therefore the scheme for calculating the parity bits based on the parity check matrix as illustrated in FIG. 2 may be variously defined.

As such, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform the LDPC encoding based on above Table 1 to generate the LDPC codeword.

In detail, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform the LDPC encoding on 3240 input bits, that is, the LDPC information bits at the code rate of 3/15 based on above Table 1 to generate 12960 LDPC parity bits and output the LDPC codeword formed of the LDPC information bits and the LDPC parity bits. In this case, the LDPC codeword may be formed of 16200 bits.

As another example, the parity check matrix according to the exemplary embodiment may have a structure as illustrated in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 3, a parity check matrix 30 is formed of an information sub-matrix 31 which is a sub-matrix corresponding to the information bits (that is, LDPC information bits) and a parity sub-matrix 32 which is a sub-matrix corresponding to the parity bits (that is, LDPC parity bits).

The information sub-matrix 31 includes K_(ldpc) columns and the parity sub-matrix 32 includes N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity)=N_(inner)−K_(ldpc) columns. The number of rows of the parity check matrix 30 is equal to the number N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity)=N_(inner)−K_(ldpc) of columns of the parity sub-matrix 32.

Further, in the parity check matrix 30, N_(inner) represents the length of the LDPC codeword, K_(ldpc) represents the length of the information bits, and N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity)=N_(inner)−K_(ldpc) represents the length of the parity bits.

Hereinafter, the structures of the information sub-matrix 31 and the parity sub-matrix 32 will be described.

The information sub-matrix 31 is a matrix including the K_(ldpc) columns (that is, 0-th column to (K_(ldpc)−1)-th column) and depends on the following rule.

First, the K_(ldpc) columns configuring the information sub-matrix 31 belong to the same group by M numbers and are divided into a total of K_(ldpc)/M column groups. The columns belonging to the same column group have a relationship that they are cyclic-shifted by Q_(ldpc) from one another. That is, Q_(ldpc) may be considered as a cyclic shift parameter value for columns of the column group in the information sub-matrix configuring the parity check matrix 30.

Here, M represents an interval (for example, M=360) at which the pattern of columns in the information sub-matrix 31 is repeated and Q_(ldpc) is a size at which each column in the information sub-matrix 31 is cyclic-shifted. M is a common divisor of N_(inner) and K_(ldpc), and is determined so that Q_(ldpc)=(N_(inner)−K_(ldpc))/M is established. Here, M and Q_(ldpc) are integers and K_(ldpc)/M also becomes an integer. M and Q_(ldpc) may have various values depending on the length of the LDPC codeword and the code rate.

For example, when M=360, the length N_(inner) of the LDPC codeword is 16200, and the code rate is 6/15, Q_(ldpc) may be 27.

Second, if a degree (herein, the degree is the number of values is positioned in a column and the degrees of all columns belonging to a same column group are the same) of a 0-th column of an i-th (i=0, 1, . . . , K_(ldpc)/M−1) column group is set to be D_(i) and positions (or index) of each row in which 1 is positioned in the 0-th column of the i-th column group is set to be R_(i,0) ⁽⁰⁾, R_(i,0) ⁽¹⁾, . . . , R_(i,0) ^((D) ^(i) ⁻¹⁾, an index R_(i,j) ^((k)) of a row in which a k-th 1 is positioned in a j-th column in the i-th column group is determined based on following Equation 5.

R _(i,j) ^((k)) =R _(i,(j−1)) ^((k)) +Q _(ldpc) mod(N _(inner) −K _(ldpc))   (5)

In above Equation 5, k=0, 1, 2, . . . , D_(i)−1; i=0, 1, . . . , K_(ldpc)/M−1; j=1, 2, . . . , M−1.

Above Equation 5 may be represented like following Equation 6.

R _(i,j) ^((k))=(R _(i,0) ^((k))+(j mod M)×Q _(ldpc))mod(N _(inner) −K _(ldpc))   (6)

In above Equation 6, k=0, 1, 2, . . . , D_(i)−1; i=0, 1, . . . , K_(ldpc)/M−1; j=1, 2, . . . , M−1. In above Equation 6, since j=1, 2, . . . , M−1, (j mod M) may be considered as j.

In these Equations, R_(i,j) ^((k)) represents the index of a row in which a k-th 1 is positioned in a j-th column in an i-th column group, N_(inner) represents the length of an LDPC codeword, K_(ldpc) represents the length of information bits, D_(i) represents the degree of columns belonging to the i-th column group, M represents the number of columns belonging to one column group, and Q_(ldpc) represents the size at which each column is cyclic-shifted.

As a result, referring to the above equations, if a R_(i,0) ^((k)) value is known, the index R_(i,j) ^((k)) of the row in which the k-th 1 is positioned in the j-th column in the i-th column group may be known. Therefore, when the index value of the row in which the k-th 1 is positioned in a 0-th columns of each column group is stored, the positions of the column and the row in which 1 is positioned in the parity check matrix 30 (that is, information sub-matrix 31 of the parity check matrix 30) having the structure of FIG. 3 may be checked.

According to the foregoing rules, all degrees of columns belonging to the i-th column group are D_(i). Therefore, according to the foregoing rules, an LDPC code in which the information on the parity check matrix is stored may be briefly represented as follows.

For example, when N_(inner) is 30, K_(ldpc) is 15, and Q_(ldpc) is 3, positional information of the row in which 1 is positioned in 0-th columns of three column groups may be represented by sequences as following Equation 7, which may be named ‘weight-1 position sequence’.

R _(1,0) ⁽¹⁾=1, R _(1,0) ⁽²⁾=2, R _(1,0) ⁽³⁾=8, R _(1,0) ⁽⁴⁾=10,

R _(2,0) ⁽¹⁾=0, R _(2,0) ⁽²⁾=9, R _(2,0) ⁽³⁾=13,

R _(3,0) ⁽¹⁾=0, R _(3,0) ⁽²⁾=14.   (7)

In above Equation 7, R_(i,j) ^((k)) represents the indexes of the row in which the k-th 1 is positioned in the j-th column of the i-th column group.

The weight-1 position sequences as above Equation 7 representing the index of the row in which 1 is positioned in the 0-th columns of each column group may be more briefly represented as following Table 2.

TABLE 2 1 2 8 10 0 9 13 0 14

Above Table 2 represents positions of elements having a value 1 in the parity check matrix and the i-th weight-1 position sequence is represented by the indexes of the row in which 1 is positioned in the 0-th column belonging to the i-th column group.

The information sub-matrix 31 of the parity check matrix according to the exemplary embodiment described above may be defined based on following Table 3.

Here, following Table 3 represents the indexes of the row in which 1 is positioned in a 0-th column of an i-th column group in the information sub-matrix 31. That is, the information sub-matrix 31 is formed of a plurality of column groups each including M columns and the positions of is in the 0-th columns of each of the plurality of column groups may be defined as following Table 3.

For example, when the length N_(inner) of the LDPC codeword is 16200, the code rate is 6/15, and the M is 360, the indexes of the row in which 1 is positioned in the 0-th column of the i-th column group in the information sub-matrix 31 are as following Table 3.

TABLE 3 27 430 519 828 1897 1943 2513 2600 2640 3310 3415 4266 5044 5100 5328 5453 5928 6204 6392 6416 6602 7019 7415 7623 8112 8485 8724 8994 9445 9667 27 174 188 631 1172 1427 1779 2217 2270 2601 2813 3196 3582 3895 3908 3948 4463 4955 5120 5809 5988 6478 6504 7096 7673 7735 7795 8925 9613 9670 27 370 617 852 910 1030 1326 1521 1606 2118 2248 2929 3214 3413 3623 3742 3752 4317 4694 5300 5687 6039 6100 6232 6491 6621 6860 7304 8542 8634 990 1753 7635 8540 933 1435 5666 8745 27 6567 8707 9216 2341 8692 9580 9615 260 1092 5839 6080 352 3750 4847 7726 4610 6580 9506 9597 2512 2974 4814 9148 1461 4021 5060 7009 1796 2883 5553 8306 1249 5427 7057 1955 6968 9422 1498 2931 5092 27 1090 6215 26 4232 6354

According to another exemplary embodiment, a parity check matrix in which an order of indexes in each sequence corresponding to each column group in above Table 3 is changed is considered as a same parity check matrix for an LDPC code as the above described parity check matrix is another example of the inventive concept.

According to still another exemplary embodiment, a parity check matrix in which an array order of the sequences of the column groups in above Table 3 is changed is also considered as a same parity check matrix as the above described parity check matrix in that they have a same algebraic characteristics such as cyclic characteristics and degree distributions on a graph of a code.

According to yet another exemplary embodiment, a parity check matrix in which a multiple of Q_(ldpc) is added to all indexes of a sequence corresponding to column group in above Table 3 is also considered as a same parity check matrix as the above described parity check matrix in that they have same cyclic characteristics and degree distributions on the graph of the code. Here, it is to be noted that when a value obtained by adding the multiple of Q_(ldpc) to a given sequence is equal to or more than N_(inner)−K_(ldpc), the value needs to be changed into a value obtained by performing a modulo operation on the N_(inner)−K_(ldpc) and then applied.

If the position of the row in which 1 is positioned in the 0-th column of the i-th column group in the information sub-matrix 31 as shown in above Table 3 is defined, it may be cyclic-shifted by Q_(ldpc), and thus, the position of the row in which 1 is positioned in other columns of each column group may be defined.

For example, as shown in above Table 3, since the sequence corresponding to the 0-th column of the 0-th column group of the information sub-matrix 31 is “27 430 519 828 1897 1943 2513 2600 2640 3310 3415 4266 5044 5100 5328 5483 5928 6204 6392 6416 6602 7019 7415 7623 8112 8485 8724 8994 9445 9667”, in the 0-th column of the 0-th column group in the information sub-matrix 31, 1 is positioned in a 27-th row, a 430-th row, a 519-th-row, . . . .

In this case, since Q_(ldpc)=(N_(inner)−K_(ldpc))/M=(16200−6480)/360=27, the indexes of the row in which 1 is positioned in the first column of the 0-th column group may be 54(=27+27), 457(=430+27), 546(=519+27), 81(=54+27), 484(=457+27), 573(=546+27), . . . .

By the above scheme, the indexes of the row in which 1 is positioned in all the rows of each column group may be defined.

Hereinafter, the method for performing LDPC encoding based on the parity check matrix 30 as illustrated in FIG. 3 will be described.

First, information bits to be encoded are set to be i₀, i₁, . . . , i_(K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹, and code bits output from the LDPC encoding are set to be c₀, c₁, . . . , c_(N) _(inner) ⁻¹.

Further, since an LDPC code is systematic, for k (0≦k<K_(ldpc)−1), c_(k) is set to be i_(k). The remaining code bits are set to be p_(k):=c_(k+k) _(ldpc) .

Hereinafter, a method for calculating parity bits p_(k) will be described.

Hereinafter, q(i,j,0) represents a j-th entry of an i-th row in an index list as above Table 3, and q(i,j,1) is set to be q(i,j,1)=q(i,j,0)+Q_(ldpc)×1 (mod N_(inner)−K_(ldpc)) for 0<i<360. All the accumulations may be realized by additions in a Galois field (GF) (2). Further, in above Table 3, since the length of the LDPC codeword is 16200 and the code rate is 6/15, the Q_(ldpc) is 27.

When the q(i,j,0) and the q(i,j,1) are defined as above, a process of calculating the parity bit is as follows.

Step 1) The parity bits are initialized to ‘0’. That is, p_(k)=0 for 0≦k<N_(inner)−K_(ldpc).

Step 2) For all k values of 0≦k<K_(ldpc), i and l are set to be i:=└k/360┘ and l:=k (mod 360). Here, └x┘ is a maximum integer which is not greater than x.

Next, for all i, i_(k) is accumulated in p_(q(i,j,1)). That is, p_(q(i,0,1))=p_(q(i,0,1))+i_(k),p_(q(i,1,1))=p_(q(i,1,1))+i_(k),p_(q(i,2,1))=p_(q(i,2,1))+i_(k), . . . , p_(q(i,w(i)−1,1))=p_(q(i,w(i)−1,1))+i_(k) are calculated.

Here, w(i) represents the number of the values (elements) of an i-th row in the index list as above Table 3 and represents the number of is in a column corresponding to i_(k) in the parity check matrix. Further, in above Table 3, q(i, j, 0) which is a j-th entry of an i-th row is an index of a parity bit and represents the position of the row in which 1 is positioned in a column corresponding to i_(k) in the parity check matrix.

In detail, in above Table 3, q(i,j,0) which is the j-th entry of the i-th row represents the position of the row in which 1 is positioned in the first (that is, 0-th) column of the i-th column group in the parity check matrix of the LDPC code.

The q(i, j, 0) may also be considered as the index of the parity bit to be generated by LDPC encoding according to a method for allowing a real apparatus to implement a scheme for accumulating i_(k) in p_(q(i,j,1)) for all i, and may also be considered as an index in another form when another encoding method is implemented. However, this is only one example, and therefore, it is apparent to obtain an equivalent result to an LDPC encoding result which may be obtained from the parity check matrix of the LDPC code which may basically be generated based on the q(i,j,0) values of above Table 3 whatever the encoding scheme is applied.

Step 3) A parity bit p_(k) is calculated by calculating p_(k)=p_(k)+p_(k−1) for all k satisfying 0<k<N_(inner)−K_(ldpc).

Accordingly, all code bits c₀, c₁, . . . , C_(N) _(inner) ⁻¹ may be obtained.

As a result, parity bits may be calculated by the above scheme. However, this is only one example, and therefore, the scheme for calculating the parity bits based on the parity check matrix as illustrated in FIG. 3 may be variously defined.

As such, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding based on above Table 3 to generate an LDPC codeword.

In detail, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform the LDPC encoding on 6480 input bits, that is, the LDPC information bits at the code rate of 6/15 based on above Table 3 to generate 9720 LDPC parity bits and output the LDPC parity bits and the LDPC codeword formed of the LDPC parity bits. In this case, the LDPC codeword may be formed of 16200 bits.

As described above, the LDPC encoder 110 may encode the input bits at various code rates to generate the LDPC parity bits.

The puncturer 120 may puncture some bits from the LDPC parity bits.

Here, the puncturing means that some of the LDPC parity bits are not transmitted to the receiver 200. In this case, the puncturer 120 may remove the punctured LDPC parity bits or output only the remaining bits other than the punctured LDPC parity bits in the LDPC codeword.

For this purpose, the puncturer 130 may calculate the number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured.

In detail, the puncturer 130 may calculate the number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured based on N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) which is calculated based on following Equation 8.

N _(punc) _(_) _(temp) =└A×(K _(ldpc) −N _(outer))┘+B   (8)

In above Equation 8, N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) represents a temporary number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured, and K_(ldpc) represents the number of LDPC information bits. N_(outer) represents the number of outer-encoded bits. Here, when the outer encoding is performed by BCH encoding, N_(outer) represents the number of BCH encoded bits.

Further, A and B are constants preset in a system such as the transmitter 100 and the receiver 200, and may be selected as an appropriate value by various methods to obtain robustness required for the system.

According to an exemplary embodiment, A represents a ratio of the number of bits to be punctured to the number of bits to be shortened (i.e., removed), and B represents the minimum length that the punctured bits can have, that is, a length of parity bits to be punctued even when the shortened length is 0.

In this case, A and B values serve to adjust an actual code rate used for transmission of information bits. That is, to prepare for a case in which the length of the information bits is short or a case in which the length of the information bits is long, the A and B values serve to adjust the actual code rate to be reduced.

Meanwhile, at least one of the A and B values may be determined as a different value corresponding to a different robustness level in a same modulation order. That is, at least one of the A and B values may be changed to a different value corresponding to a different robustness level to provide the different robustness level in the same modulation order.

For example, when the modulation order is 2, that is, when LDPC codeword bits are modulated by quadrature phase shifting keying (QPSK) to be transmitted to the receiver 200, A=0, B=9360, A=0, B=11460, or A=0, B=12360.

In this case, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding on 3240 input bits at a code rate of 3/15, and the puncturer 120 may calculate a temporary number of LPDC parity bits to be punctured based on A=0, B=9360, A=0, B=11460, or A=0, B=12360.

As another example, when the modulation order is 2, that is, when LDPC codeword bits are modulated by QPSK to be transmitted to the receiver 200, A=2, B=6036 or A=11/16, B=4653.

In this case, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding on 3240 input bits at a code rate of 3/15, and the puncturer 120 may calculate a temporary number of LPDC parity bits to be punctured based on A=2, B=6036.

Further, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding on 6480 input bits at a code rate of 6/15, and the puncturer 120 may calculate a temporary number of LPDC parity bits to be punctured based on A=11/16, B=4653.

When information bits to be transmitted has a fixed length, A is set to 0, and B is fixed to an integer greater than 0, in which case above Equation 8 is changed to following Equation 9.

N _(punc) _(_) _(temp) =B   (9)

In this case, B may be determined as different values in different modulation orders. That is, according to an exemplary embodiment, when information bits having a fixed length is transmitted using different modulation orders, different B values may be used to minimize an overhead to the system, thereby enhancing transmission efficiency while achieving robustness required for the system.

For example, when the modulation order is 2 and LDPC codeword bits are modulated by QPSK to be transmitted to the receiver 200, B=9360, B=11460, or B=12360.

In this case, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding on 3240 input bits at a code rate of 3/15, and the puncturer 120 may calculate a temporary number of LPDC parity bits to be punctured based on B=9360, B=11460, or B=12360.

As another example, when the modulation order is 4 and LDPC codeword bits are modulated by 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM) to be transmitted to the receiver 200, B=12292. Here, as 16-QAM, 16-non uniform constellation (16-NUC) may be used.

In this case, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding on 3240 input bits at a code rate of 3/15, and the puncturer 120 may calculate a temporary number of LPDC parity bits to be punctured based on B=12292.

As another example, when the modulation order is 6 and LDPC codeword bits are modulated by 64-QAM to be transmitted to the receiver 200, B=12350. Here, as 64-QAM, 64-NUC may be used.

In this case, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding on 3240 input bits at a code rate of 3/15, and the puncturer 120 may calculate a temporary number of LPDC parity bits to be punctured based on B=12350.

As another example, when the modulation order is 8 and LDPC codeword bits are modulated by 256-QAM to be transmitted to the receiver 200, B=12432 or B=12776. Here, as 256-QAM, 256-NUC may be used.

In this case, the LDPC encoder 110 may perform LDPC encoding on 3240 input bits at a code rate of 3/15, and the puncturer 120 may calculate a temporary number of LPDC parity bits to be punctured based on B=12432 or B=12776.

Meanwhile, the detailed reason of setting the A and B values will be described below.

Further, the puncturer 120 calculates N_(FEC) based on following Equation 10.

$\begin{matrix} {N_{FEC} = {\left\lceil \frac{N_{FEC\_ temp}}{\eta_{MOD}} \right\rceil \times \eta_{MOD}}} & (10) \end{matrix}$

In above Equation 10, ┌x┐ represents a minimum integer which is greater than or equal to x.

Further, N_(FEC) _(_) _(temp)=N_(outer)+N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity)−N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) and η_(MOD) is a modulation order. For example, when an LDPC codeword is modulated by QPSK, 16-quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), 64-QAM or 256-QAM, η MOD may be 2, 4, 6 or 8, respectively.

Further, N_(FEC) is the number of bits configuring a punctured and shortened LDPC codeword (that is, LDPC codeword bits to remain after puncturing and shortening).

Next, the puncturer 120 calculates N_(punc) based on following Equation 11.

N _(punc) =N _(punch) _(_) _(temp)−(N _(FEC) −N _(FEC) _(_) _(temp))   (11)

In above Equation 11, N_(punc) represents the number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured.

Referring to the above process, the puncturer 120 calculates the temporary number N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) of LDPC parity bits to be punctured, by adding the constant integer B to a result obtained from a product result of the number of padded zero bits, that is, the shortening length (=K_(ldpc)−N_(outer)) by A.

Further, the puncturer 120 calculates a temporary number N_(FEC) _(_) _(temp) of LDPC codeword bits to constitute the LDPC codeword after puncturing and shortening based on N_(punc) _(_) _(temp).

In detail, the LDPC information bits are LDPC-encoded and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding are added to the LDPC information bits to configure the LDPC codeword. Here, the LDPC information bits include the BCH encoded bits in which the information bits are BCH-encoded and, in some cases, may further include zero bits padded to the information bits.

In this case, since the padded zero bits are LDPC-encoded but are not transmitted to the receiver 200, the shortened LDPC codeword, that is, the LDPC codeword (that is, shortened LDPC codeword) without the padded zero bits may be formed of the BCH encoded bits and the LDPC parity bits. When the zero bits are not padded, the LDPC codeword may also be formed of the BCH encoded bits and the LDPC parity bits.

Therefore, the puncturer 120 subtracts the arbitrary number of punctured LDPC parity bits from the summed value of the number of BCH encoded bits and the number of LDPC parity bits to calculate the N_(FEC) _(_) _(temp).

Meanwhile, the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword bits are modulated by QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM or 256-QAM to be mapped to constellation symbols and the constellation symbols may be transmitted to the receiver 200 through a frame.

Therefore, the puncturer 120 determines the number N_(FEC) of LDPC codeword bits to constitute the LDPC codeword after puncturing and shortening based on N_(FEC) _(_) _(temp), N_(FEC) being an integer multiple of the modulation order, and determines the number N_(punc) of bits which need of to be punctured in the shortened LDPC codeword bits to form N_(FEC). Meanwhile, when zero bits are not padded, the LDPC codeword may be formed of BCH encoded bits and LDPC parity bits and the shortening may be omitted.

The puncturer 120 may puncture bits as many as the number calculated from the LDPC parity bits.

In detail, the puncturer 120 may puncture a predetermined number of bits at a back portion of the LDPC parity bits. That is, the puncturer 120 may puncture bits as many as the number calculated from a last LDPC parity bit among the LDPC parity bits.

The transmitter 100 may transmit the LDPC codeword to the receiver 200.

In detail, the transmitter 100 maps the LDPC codeword bits other than the padded zero bits in the LDPC codeword in which at least some of LDPC parity bits are punctured, that is, the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword bits, to the constellation symbols by QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM or 256-QAM, and may map the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword bits to a frame and transmit the mapped bits to the receiver 200.

For example, in above Equation 8, when N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) is calculated using A=0, B=9360, A=0, B=11460, A=0, B=12360, A=2, B=6036, or A=11/16, B=4653, N_(punc) is calculated using N_(punc) _(_) _(temp), and N_(punc) bits are punctured in the LDPC parity bits, the transmitter 100 may modulate the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword bits by QPSK to be mapped to the constellation symbols.

As another example, in above Equation 9, when N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) is calculated using B=9360, B=11460, or B=12360, N_(punc) is calculated using N_(punc) _(_) _(temp), and N_(punc) bits are punctured in the LDPC parity bits, the transmitter 100 may modulate the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword bits by QPSK to be mapped to the constellation symbols.

As another example, in above Equation 9, when N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) is calculated using B=12292, N_(punc) is calculated using N_(punc) _(_) _(temp), and N_(punc) bits are punctured in the LDPC parity bits, the transmitter 100 may modulate the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword bits by 16-QAM to be mapped to the constellation symbols.

As another example, in above Equation 9, when N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) is calculated using B=12350, N_(punc) is calculated using N_(punc) _(_) _(temp), and N_(punc) bits are punctured in the LDPC parity bits, the transmitter 100 may modulate the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword bits by 64-QAM to be mapped to the constellation symbols.

As another example, in above Equation 9, when N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) is calculated using B=12432 or B=12776, N_(punc) is calculated using N_(punc) _(_) _(temp), and N_(punc) bits are punctured in the LDPC parity bits, the transmitter 100 may modulate the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword bits by 256-QAM to be mapped to the constellation symbols.

As described above, since the information bits are the signaling including signaling information for data, the transmitter 100 may map the data to a frame along with the signaling for processing the data, and transmit the mapped data to the receiver 200.

In detail, the transmitter 100 may process the data in a specific scheme to generate the constellation symbols, and map the generated constellation symbols to data symbols of each frame. Further, the transmitter 100 may map the signaling for the data mapped to each frame to a preamble of the frame. For example, the transmitter 100 may map the signaling including the signaling information for the data mapped to an i-th frame to the i-th frame.

As a result, the receiver 200 may use the signaling acquired from the frame to acquire and process the data from the frame.

As described above, the temporary number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured based on A and B values is calculated.

A method for determining A and B values according to an exemplary embodiment will be described below.

In above Equation 8, the A value is determined to increase the number of bits to be punctued in proportion to the number of bits to be shortened (or the number of zero-padded bits), and therefore, serves to directly control system performance depending on a variable length of the information bits. Therefore, if A is greater than a certain value, the number of bits to be punctued is more rapidly increased than the number of bits to be shortened, and thus, robustness required for the system is not supported. If, however, A is less than a certain value, the number of bits to be punctued is more slowly increased than the number of bits to be shortened, and thus, more parities than that required for the robustness required for the system are transmitted. As a result, it may be appreciated that the A value need be set considering all the concerned factors.

Further, in above Equation 8, the B value is a minimum value for the number of bits to be punctued and is an important value for securing basic performance due to the puncturing. For example, when B is set to be greater than a certain value, a basic puncturing value is large, and thus, overall performance is highly likely to deteriorate due to the puncturing independent of the number of bits to be shortened. However, when B is set to be less than a certain value, the basic puncturing value is small, and thus, the overall performance is unnecessarily robust due to the puncturing independent of the number of bits to be shortened to increase overhead. As a result, the B value also need to be set considering all the concerned factors.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the B value is first determined and then the A value is determined based on the B value. First, a method for determining a B value will be described as follows (the method for determining a B value described below is identically applied even in the case of A=0).

Step 1) For a case in which random puncturing of parity bits is assumed and the number of bits to be shortened is minimum (including a case in which the number of bits to be shortened is set to a predetermined number when A=0), the B value starts from 0 and is changed in a unit of 360, and a theoretical value for a minimum signal-to-noise (SNR) at which error-free communication may be implemented is calculated by a density evolution analysis method.

Step 2) When the minimum SNR is greater than a threshold value, the B value at this time is set as a B_(—temp).

Step 3) Simulation is performed by reducing the B_(—temp) value of step 2 by 180 (that is, B_(—temp)←B_(—temp)−180) and applying random puncturing to verify performance. At this time if robustness required for the system is satisfied, the B_(—temp) is increased by 90 (that is, B_(—temp)←B_(—temp)+90), and if the robustness required for the system is not satisfied, the B_(—temp) is reduced by 90 (that is, B_(—temp)←B_(—temp)−90).

Step 4) Another simulation is performed by applying random puncturing to the B_(—temp) value obtained at step 2 to verify performance. At this time, if the robustness required for the system is satisfied, the B_(—temp) is increased by 45 (that is, B_(—temp)←B_(—temp)+45), and if the robustness required for the system is not satisfied, the B_(—temp) is reduced by 45 (that is, B_(—temp)←B_(—temp)−45).

Step 5) Another simulation is performed by applying a puncturing method set in the system, not the random puncturing, to B_(—temp) 23, B_(—temp)−22, . . . , B_(—temp), . . . , B_(—temp)+22, B_(—temp)+23 values, respectively, based on B_(—temp) determined in step 4 to finally determine the maximum B_(—temp) value satisfying the robustness required for the system as the B value (in the present embodiment, for convenience, the increase and decrease unit is 180, 90, and 45, and then, a full search is applied, but these are only example units). In connection with the puncturing method set in the system, parity permutation and puncturing will be described below.

If the number of information bits is fixed, A=0 and thus only a process of obtaining the B value is applied. However, when A is a value other than 0, the A value is determined based on an obtained B value as follows.

Step 1) For the minimum number X of bits to be shortened, the number N_(—short) of bit to be bits is set within a range of X, X+360, X+360×2, . . . which does not exceed the maxim number of bits to be shortened

Step 2) Simulation is performed by setting A_(—temp) to be ½ for each N_(—short) value, applying N_(—temp)=A_(—temp)×N_(—short)+B using the preset B value, and then applying the puncturing method set in the system, thereby confirming whether the robustness required for the system is satisfied for all the cases.

Step 3) If the robustness required for the system is satisfied for all the cases, A_(—temp) is increased by ¼ (that is, A_(—temp)←A_(—temp)+¼), and if the robustness required for the system is not satisfied, A_(—temp) is reduced by ¼ (that is, A_(—temp)←A_(—temp)−¼).

Step 4) Another simulation is performed by applying N_temp=(A_(—temp)−⅛)×N_(—short)+B , N_(—temp)=A_(—temp)×N_(—short)+B, N_(—temp)=(A_(—temp)+⅛)×N_(—short)+B to each N_short value using the A_(—temp) value determined in step 3, applying the puncturing method set in the system to select a case which satisfies the robustness required for the system from among (A_(—temp)−⅛), A_(—temp), (A_(—temp)+⅛) values, and then, selecting the largest A_(—temp) as the A value (in the present embodiment, in determining the A value, only ½, ¼ and ⅛ are applied, but according to another exemplary embodiment, ½, ¼, ⅛, . . . , 1/(2̂n) may be continuously applied to determine the A value). Further, it is also obvious that it is not necessarily limited to the 1/(2̂n) form. Further, it is obvious that an integer instead of a fractional number may be used to determined the A value. For example, A_(—temp)=4 at the beginning, and values of A_(—temp)−½, A_(—temp), A_(—temp)+½, and the like may be applied to determine the A value.

According to an exemplary embodiment, the foregoing information bits may be implemented by L1-basic signaling and L1-detail signaling. Therefore, the transmitter 100 may perform puncturing on the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling by using the foregoing method and transmit these signals to the receiver 200.

Here, the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling may be signaling defined in an Advanced Television System Committee (ATSC) 3.0 standard.

There are seven (7) modes of processing the L1-basic signaling. The transmitter 100 according to the exemplary embodiment may perform the puncturing according to the foregoing method when at least one of the seven modes processes the L1-basic signaling.

There are also seven (7) modes of processing the L1-detail signaling. The transmitter 100 according to the exemplary embodiment may perform the puncturing according to the foregoing method when L1-detail modes 2, 3 of the seven modes process the L1-detail signaling.

A method for processing the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling will be described below.

The transmitter 100 may map the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling to a preamble of a frame and map data to data symbols of the frame for transmission to the receiver 200.

Referring to FIG. 4, the frame may be configured of three parts, that is, a bootstrap part, a preamble part, and a data part.

The bootstrap part is used for initial synchronization and provides a basic parameter required for the receiver 200 to decode the L1 signaling. Further, the bootstrap part may include information about a mode of processing the L1-basic signaling at the transmitter 100, that is, information about a mode the transmitter 100 uses to process the L1-basic signaling.

The preamble part includes the L1 signaling, and may be configured of two parts, that is, the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling.

Here, the L1-basic signaling may include information about the L1-detail signaling, and the L1-detail signaling may include information about data. Here, the data is broadcasting data for providing broadcasting services and may be transmitted through at least one physical layer pipes (PLPs).

In detail, the L1-basic signaling includes information required for the receiver 200 to process the L1-detail signaling. This information includes, for example, information about a mode of processing the L1-detail signaling at the transmitter 100, that is, information about a mode the transmitter 100 uses to process the L1-detail signaling, information about a length of the L1-detail signaling, information about an additional parity mode, that is, information about a K value used for the transmitter 100 to generate additional parity bits using an L1B_L1_Detail_additional_parity_mode (here, when the L1B_L1_Detail_additional_parity_mode is set as ‘00’, K=0 and the additional parity bits are not used), and information about a length of total cells. Further, the L1-basic signaling may include basic signaling information about a system including the transmitter 100 such as a fast Fourier transform (FFT) size, a guard interval, and a pilot pattern.

Further, the L1-detail signaling includes information required for the receiver 200 to decode the PLPs, for example, start positions of cells mapped to data symbols for each PLP, PLP identifier (ID), a size of the PLP, a modulation scheme, a code rate, etc.

Therefore, the receiver 200 may acquire frame synchronization, acquire the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling from the preamble, and receive service data required by a user from data symbols using the L1-detail signaling.

The method for processing the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling will be described below in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 5 and 6 are block diagrams for describing detailed configurations of the transmitter 100, according to exemplary embodiments.

In detail, as illustrated in FIG. 5, to process the L1-basic signaling, the transmitter 100 may include a scrambler 211, a BCH encoder 212, a zero padder 213, an LDPC encoder 214, a parity permutator 215, a repeater 216, a puncturer 217, a zero remover 219, a bit demultiplexer 219, and a constellation mapper 221.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 6, to process the L1-detail signaling, the transmitter 100 may include a segmenter 311, a scrambler 312, a BCH encoder 313, a zero padder 314, an LDPC encoder 315, a parity permutator 316, a repeater 317, a puncturer 318, an additional parity generator 319, a zero remover 321, bit demultiplexers 322 and 323, and constellation mappers 324 and 325.

Here, the components illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 are components for performing encoding and modulation on the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling, which is only one example. According to another exemplary embodiments, some of the components illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6 may be omitted or changed, and other components may also be added. Further, positions of some of the components may be changed. For example, the positions of the repeaters 216 and 317 may be disposed after the puncturers 217 and 318, respectively.

The LDPC encoder 214 and the puncturer 217 illustrated in FIG. 5, and the LDPC encoder 315 and the puncturer 318 illustrated in FIG. 6 may perform the operations performed by the LDPC encoder 110 and the puncturer 120 illustrated in FIG. 1, respectively.

In describing FIGS. 5 and 6, for convenience, components for performing common functions will be described together.

The L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling may be protected by concatenation of a BCH outer code and an LDPC inner code. However, this is only one example. Therefore, as outer encoding performed before inner encoding in the concatenated coding, another encoding such as CRC encoding in addition to the BCH encoding may be used. Further, the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling may be protected only by the LDPC inner code without the outer code.

First, the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling may be scrambled. Further, the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling are BCH encoded, and thus, BCH parity check bits of the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling generated from the BCH encoding may be added to the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling, respectively. Further, the concatenated signaling and the BCH parity check bits may be additionally protected by a shortened and punctured 16K LDPC code.

To provide various robustness levels appropriate for a wide signal to noise ratio (SNR) range, a protection level of the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling may be divided into seven (7) modes. That is, the protection level of the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling may be divided into the seven modes based on an LDPC code, a modulation order, shortening/puncturing parameters (that is, a ratio of the number of bits to be punctured to the number of bits to be shortened), and the number of bits to be basically punctured (that is, the number of bits to be basically punctured when the number of bits to be shortened is 0). In each mode, at least one different combination of the LDPC code, the modulation order, the constellation, and the shortening/puncturing pattern may be used.

A mode for the transmitter 100 to processes the signaling may be set in advance depending on a system. Therefore, the transmitter 100 may determine parameters (for example, modulation and code rate (ModCod) for each mode, parameter for the BCH encoding, parameter for the zero padding, shortening pattern, code rate/code length of the LDPC code, group-wise interleaving pattern, parameter for repetition, parameter for puncturing, and modulation scheme, etc.) for processing the signaling depending on the set mode, and may process the signaling based on the determined parameters and transmit the processed signaling to the receiver 200. For this purpose, the transmitter 100 may pre-store the parameters for processing the signaling depending on the mode.

Modulation and code rate configurations (ModCod configurations) for the seven modes for processing the L1-basic signaling and the seven modes for processing the L1-detail signaling are shown in following Table 4. The transmitter 100 may encode and modulate the signaling based on the ModCod configurations defined in following Table 4 according to a corresponding mode. That is, the transmitter 100 may determine an encoding and modulation scheme for the signaling in each mode based on following Table 4, and may encode and modulate the signaling according to the determined scheme. In this case, even when modulating the L1 signaling by the same modulation scheme, the transmitter 100 may also use different constellations.

TABLE 4 Code Signaling FEC Type K_(sig) Length Code Rate Constellation L1-Basic Mode 1 200 16200 3/15 QPSK Mode 2 (Type A) QPSK Mode 3 QPSK Mode 4 NUC_16-QAM Mode 5 NUC_64-QAM Mode 6 NUC_256-QAM Mode 7 NUC_256-QAM L1-Detail Mode 1 400~2352 QPSK Mode 2 400~3072 QPSK Mode 3 400~6312 6/15 QPSK Mode 4 (Type B) NUC_16-QAM Mode 5 NUC_64-QAM Mode 6 NUC_256-QAM Mode 7 NUC_256-QAM

In above Table 4, K_(sig) represents the number of information bits for a coded block. That is, since the L1 signaling bits having a length of K_(sig) are encoded to generate the coded block, a length of the L1 signaling in one coded block becomes K_(sig). Therefore, the L1 signaling bits having the size of K_(sig) may be considered as corresponding to one LDPC coded block.

Referring to above Table 4, the K_(sig) value for the L1-basic signaling is fixed to 200. However, since the amount of L1-detail signaling bits varies, the K_(sig) value for the L1-detail signaling varies.

In detail, in a case of the L1-detail signaling, the number of L1-detail signaling bits varies, and thus, when the number of L1-detail signaling bits is greater than a preset value, the L1-detail signaling may be segmented to have a length which is equal to or less than the preset value.

In this case, each size of the segmented L1-detail signaling blocks (that is, segment of the L1-detail signaling) may have the K_(sig) value defined in above Table 4. Further, each of the segmented L1-detail signaling blocks having the size of K_(sig) may correspond to one LDPC coded block.

However, when the number of L1-detail signaling bits is equal to or less than the preset value, the L1-detail signaling is not segmented. In this case, the size of the L1-detail signaling may have the K_(sig) value defined in above Table 4. Further, the L1-detail signaling having the size of K_(sig) may correspond to one LDPC coded block.

Hereinafter, a method for segmenting L1-detail signaling will be described in detail.

The segmenter 311 segments the L1-detail signaling. In detail, since the length of the L1-detail signaling varies, when the length of the L1-detail signaling is greater than the preset value, the segmenter 311 may segment the L1-detail signaling to have the number of bits which are equal to or less than the preset value and output each of the segmented L1-detail signalings to the scrambler 312.

However, when the length of the L1-detail signaling is equal to or less than the preset value, the segmenter 311 does not perform a separate segmentation operation.

A method for segmenting, by the segmenter 311, the L1-detail signaling is as follows.

The amount of L1-detail signaling bits varies and mainly depends on the number of PLPs. Therefore, to transmit all bits of the L1-detail signaling, at least one forward error correction (FEC) frame is required. Here, an FEC frame may represent a form in which the L1-detail signaling is encoded, and thus, parity bits according to the encoding are added to the L1-detail signaling.

In detail, when the L1-detail signaling is not segmented, the L1-detail signaling is BCH-encoded and LDPC encoded to generate one FEC frame, and therefore, one FEC frame is required for the L1-detail signaling transmission. However, when the L1-detail signaling is segmented into at least two, these segmented L1-detail signalings each are BCH-encoded and LDPC-encoded to generate at least two FEC frames, and therefore, at least two FEC frames are required for the L1-detail signaling transmission.

Therefore, the segmenter 311 may calculate the number N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME) of FEC frames for the L1-detail signaling based on following Equation 12. That is, the number N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME) of FEC frames for the L1-detail signaling may be determined based on following Equation 12.

$\begin{matrix} {N_{L\; 1\; {D\_ FECFRAME}} = \left\lceil \frac{K_{L\; 1D\; \_ \; {ex}\; \_ \; {pad}}}{K_{seg}} \right\rceil} & (12) \end{matrix}$

In above Equation 12, ┌x┐ represents a minimum integer which is equal to or greater than x.

Further, in above Equation 12, K_(L1D) _(_) _(ex) _(_) _(pad) represents the length of the L1-detail signaling except L1 padding bits as illustrated in FIG. 7, and may be determined by a value of an L1B_L1_Detail_size_bits field included in the L1-basic signaling.

Further, K_(seg) represents a threshold number for segmentation defined based on the number K_(ldpc) of information bits input to the LDPC encoder 315, that is, the LDPC information bits. Further, K_(seg) may be defined based on the number of BCH parity check bits of BCH encoding and a multiple value of 360.

K_(seg) is determined such that, after the L1-detail signaling is segmented, the number K_(sig) of information bits in the coded block is set to be equal to or less than K_(ldpc)−M_(outer). In detail, when the L1-detail signaling is segmented based on K_(seg), since the length of segmented L1-detail signaling does not exceed K_(seg), the length of the segmented L1-detail signaling is set to be equal to or less than K_(ldpc)−M_(outer) when K_(seg) is set like in Table 5 as following.

Here, M_(outer) and K_(ldpc) are as following Tables 6 and 7. For sufficient robustness, the K_(seg) value for the L1-detail signaling mode 1 may be set to be K_(ldpc)−M_(outer)−720.

K_(seg) for each mode of the L1-detail signaling may be defined as following Table 8. In this case, the segmenter 311 may determine K_(seg) according to a corresponding mode as shown in following Table 5.

TABLE 5 L1-Detail K_(seg) Mode 1 2352 Mode 2 3072 Mode 3 6312 Mode 4 Mode 5 Mode 6 Mode 7

As illustrated in FIG. 15, an entire L1-detail signaling may be formed of L1-detail signaling and L1 padding bits.

In this case, the segmenter 311 may calculate a length of an L1 PADDING field for the L1-detail signaling, that is, the number _(L1D) _(_) _(PAD) of the L1 padding bits based on following Equation 13.

However, calculating K_(L1D) _(_) _(PAD) based on following Equation 13 is only one example. That is, the segmenter 311 may calculate the length of the L1_PADDING field for the L1-detail signaling, that is, the number K_(L1D) _(_) _(PAD) of the L1 padding bits based on K_(L1D) _(_) _(ex) _(_) _(pad) and N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME) values. As one example, the K_(L1D) _(_) _(PAD) value may be obtained based on following Equation 13. That is, following Equation 13 is only one example of a method for obtaining a K_(L1D) _(_) _(PAD) value, and therefore, another method based on the K_(L1D) _(_) _(ex) _(_) _(pad) and N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME) values may be applied to obtain an equivalent result.

$\begin{matrix} {K_{L\; 1D\; \_ \; {PAD}} = {{\left\lceil \frac{K_{L\; 1D\; \_ \; {ex}\; \_ \; {pad}}}{\left( {N_{L\; 1D\; \_ \; {FECFRAME}} \times 8} \right)} \right\rceil \times 8 \times N_{L\; 1D\; \_ \; {FECFRAME}}} - K_{L\; 1D\; \_ \; {ex}\; \_ \; {pad}}}} & (13) \end{matrix}$

Further, the segmenter 311 may fill the L1_PADDING field with K_(L1D) _(_) _(PAD) zero bits (that is, bits having a 0 value). Therefore, as illustrated in FIG. 11, the K_(L1D) _(_) _(PAD) zero bits may be filled in the L1_PADDING field.

As such, by calculating the length of the L1_PADDING field and padding zero bits of the calculated length to the L1_PADDING field, the L1-detail signaling may be segmented into the plurality of blocks formed of the same number of bits when the L1-detail signaling is segmented.

Next, the segmenter 311 may calculate a final length K_(L1D) of the entire L1-detail signaling including the zero padding bits based on following Equation 14.

K _(L1D) =K _(L1D) _(_) _(ex) _(_) _(pad) +K _(L1D) _(_) _(PAD)   (14)

Further, the segmenter 311 may calculate the number K_(sig) of information bits in each of the N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME) blocks based on following Equation 15.

$\begin{matrix} {K_{sig} = \frac{K_{L\; 1D}}{N_{L\; 1{D\_ FECFRAME}}}} & (15) \end{matrix}$

Next, the segmenter 311 may segment the L1-detail signaling by K_(sig) number of bits.

In detail, as illustrated in FIG. 7, when N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME) is greater than 1, the segmenter 311 may segment the L1-detail signaling by the number of K_(sig) bits to segment the L1-detail signaling into the N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME) blocks.

Therefore, the L1-detail signaling may be segmented into N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME) blocks, and the number of L1-detail signaling bits in each of the N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME) blocks may be K_(sig). Further, each segmented L1-detail signaling is encoded. As an encoded result, a coded block, that is, an FEC frame is formed, such that the number of L1-detail signaling bits in each of the N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME) coded blocks may be K_(sig).

However, when the L1-detail signaling is not segmented, K_(sig)=K_(L1D) _(_) _(ex) _(_) _(pad).

The segmented L1-detail signaling blocks may be encoded by a following procedure.

In detail, all bits of each of the L1-detail signaling blocks having the size K_(sig) may be scrambled. Next, each of the scrambled L1-detail signaling blocks may be encoded by concatenation of the BCH outer code and the LDPC inner code.

In detail, each of the L1-detail signaling blocks is BCH-encoded, and thus M_(outer) (=168) BCH parity check bits may be added to the K_(sig) L1-detail signaling bits of each block, and then, the concatenation of the L1-detail signaling bits and the BCH parity check bits of each block may be encoded by a shortened and punctured 16K LDPC code. The details of the BCH code and the LDPC code will be described below. However, the exemplary embodiments describe only a case in which M_(outer)=168, but it is apparent that M_(outer) may be changed into an appropriate value depending on the requirements of a system.

The scramblers 211 and 312 scramble the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling, respectively. In detail, the scramblers 211 and 312 may randomize the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling, and output the randomized L1-basic signaling and L1-detail signaling to the BCH encoders 212 and 313, respectively.

In this case, the scramblers 211 and 312 may scramble the information bits by a unit of K_(sig).

That is, since the number of L1-basic signaling bits transmitted to the receiver 200 through each frame is 200, the scrambler 211 may scramble the L1-basic signaling bits by K_(sig) (=200).

Since the number of L1-basic signaling bits transmitted to the receiver 200 through each frame varies, in some cases, the L1-detail signaling may be segmented by the segmenter 311. Further, the segmenter 311 may output the L1-detail signaling formed of K_(sig) bits or the segmented L1-detail signaling blocks to the scrambler 312. As a result, the scrambler 312 may scramble the L1-detail signaling bits by every K_(sig) which are output from the segmenter 311.

The BCH encoders 212 and 313 perform the BCH encoding on the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling to generate the BCH parity check bits.

In detail, the BCH encoders 212 and 313 may perform the BCH encoding on the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling output from the scramblers 211 and 313, respectively, to generate the BCH parity check bits, and output the BCH-encoded bits in which the BCH parity check bits are added to each of the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling to the zero padders 213 and 314, respectively.

For example, the BCH encoders 212 and 313 may perform the BCH encoding on the input K_(sig) bits to generate the M_(outer) (that is, K_(sig)=K_(payload)) BCH parity check bits and output the BCH-encoded bits formed of N_(outer) (=K_(sig)+M_(outer)) bits to the zero padders 213 and 314, respectively.

The parameters for the BCH encoding may be defined as following Table 6.

TABLE 6 K_(sig) = Signaling FEC Type K_(payload) M_(outer) N_(outer) = K_(sig) + M_(outer) L1-Basic Mode 1 200 168 368 Mode 2 Mode 3 Mode 4 Mode 5 Mode 6 Mode 7 L1-Detail Mode 1 400~2352 568~2520 Mode 2 400~3072 568~3240 Mode 3 400~6312 568~6480 Mode 4 Mode 5 Mode 6 Mode 7

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, it may be appreciated that the LDPC encoders 214 and 315 may be disposed after the BCH encoders 212 and 313, respectively.

Therefore, the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling may be protected by the concatenation of the BCH outer code and the LDPC inner code.

In detail, the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling are BCH-encoded, and thus, the BCH parity check bits for the L1-basic signaling are added to the L1-basic signaling and the BCH parity check bits for the L1-detail signaling are added to the L1-detail signaling. Further, the concatenated L1-basic signaling and BCH parity check bits are additionally protected by an LDPC code, and the concatenated L1-detail signaling and BCH parity check bits may be additionally protected by an LDPC code.

Here, it is assumed that an LDPC code for LDPC encoding is a 16K LDPC code, and thus, in the BCH encoders 212 and 213, a systematic BCH code for N_(inner)=16200 (that is, the code length of the 16K LDPC code is 16200 and an LDPC codeword generated by the LDPC encoding may be formed of 16200 bits) may be used to perform outer encoding of the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling.

The zero padders 213 and 314 pad zero bits. In detail, for the LDPC code, a predetermined number of LDPC information bits defined according to a code rate and a code length is required, and thus, the zero padders 213 and 314 may pad zero bits for the LDPC encoding to generate the predetermined number of LDPC information bits formed of the BCH-encoded bits and zero bits, and output the generated bits to the LDPC encoders 214 and 315, respectively, when the number of BCH-encoded bits is less than the number of LDPC information bits. When the number of BCH-encoded bits is equal to the number of LDPC information bits, zero bits are not padded.

Here, zero bits padded by the zero padders 213 and 314 are padded for the LDPC encoding, and therefore, the padded zero bits padded are not transmitted to the receiver 200 by a shortening operation.

For example, when the number of LDPC information bits of the 16K LDPC code is K_(ldpc), in order to form K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits, zero bits are padded to some of the LDPC information bits.

In detail, when the number of BCH-encoded bits is N_(outer), the number of LDPC information bits of the 16K LDPC code is K_(ldpc), and N_(outer)<K_(ldpc), the zero padders 213 and 314 may pad the K_(ldpc)−N_(outer) zero bits to some of the LDPC information bits, and use the N_(outer) BCH-encoded bits as the remaining portion of the LDPC information bits to generate the LDPC information bits formed of K_(ldpc) bits. However, when N_(outer)=K_(ldpc), zero bits are not padded.

For this purpose, the zero padders 213 and 314 may divide the LDPC information bits into a plurality of bit groups.

For example, the zero padders 213 and 314 may divide the K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits (i₀, i₁, . . . , i_(K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹) into N_(info) _(_) _(group)(=K_(ldpc)/360) bit groups based on following Equation 16 or 17. That is, the zero padders 213 and 314 may divide the LDPC information bits into the plurality of bit groups so that the number of bits included in each bit group is 360.

$\begin{matrix} {{Z_{i} = \left\{ {{\left. i_{k} \middle| j \right. = \left\lfloor \frac{k}{360} \right\rfloor},{0 \leq k < K_{idpc}}} \right\}}{{{for}\mspace{14mu} 0} \leq j < N_{{info}\; \_ \; {group}}}} & (16) \\ {{Z_{j} = \left\{ i_{k} \middle| {{360 \times j} \leq k < {360 \times \left( {j + 1} \right)}} \right\}}{{{for}\mspace{14mu} 0} \leq j < N_{{info}\; \_ \; {group}}}} & (17) \end{matrix}$

In above Equations 16 and 17, Z_(j) represents a j-th bit group.

The parameters N_(outer), K_(ldpc), and N_(info) _(_) _(group) for the zero padding for the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling may be defined as shown in following Table 7. In this case, the zero padders 213 and 314 may determine parameters for the zero padding according to a corresponding mode as shown in following Table 7.

TABLE 7 Signaling FEC Type N_(outer) K_(ldpc) N_(info)_group L1-Basic 368 3240 9 (all modes) L1-Detail Mode 1 568~2520 L1-Detail Mode 2 568~3240 L1-Detail Mode 3 568~6480 6480 18 L1-Detail Mode 4 L1-Detail Mode 5 L1-Detail Mode 6 L1-Detail Mode 7

Further, for 0≦j<N_(info) _(_) _(group), each bit group Z_(j) as shown in FIG. 8 may be formed of 360 bits.

In detail, FIG. 8 illustrates a data format after the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling each are LDPC-encoded. In FIG. 10, an LDPC FEC added to the K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits represents the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding.

Referring to FIG. 10, the K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits are divided into the N_(info) _(_) _(group) bits groups and each bit group may be formed of 360 bits.

When the number N_(outer)(=K_(sig)+M_(outer)) of BCH-encoded bits for the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling is less than the K_(ldpc), that is, N_(outer)(=K_(sig)+M_(outer))<K_(ldpc), for the LDPC encoding, the K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits may be filled with the N_(outer) BCH-encoded bits and the K_(ldpc)−N_(outer) zero-padded bits. In this case, the padded zero bits are not transmitted to the receiver 200.

Hereinafter, a shortening procedure performed by the zero padders 213 and 314 will be described in more detail.

The zero padders 213 and 314 may calculate the number of padded zero bits.

That is, to fit the number of bits required for the LDPC encoding, the zero padders 213 and 314 may calculate the number of zero bits to be padded.

In detail, the zero padders 213 and 314 may calculate a difference between the number of LDPC information bits and the number of BCH-encoded bits as the number of padded zero bits. That is, for a given N_(outer), the zero padders 213 and 314 may calculate the number of padded zero bits as K_(ldpc)−N_(outer).

Further, the zero padders 213 and 314 may calculate the number of bit groups in which all the bits are padded. That is, the zero padders 213 and 314 may calculate the number of bit groups in which all bits within the bit group are padded by zero bits.

In detail, the zero padders 213 and 314 may calculate the number N_(pad) of groups to which all bits are padded based on following Equation 18 or 19.

$\begin{matrix} {N_{pad} = \left\lfloor \frac{K_{idpc} - N_{outer}}{360} \right\rfloor} & (18) \\ {N_{pad} = \left\lfloor \frac{\left( {K_{idpc} - M_{outer}} \right) - K_{sig}}{360} \right\rfloor} & (19) \end{matrix}$

Next, the zero padders 213 and 314 may determine bit groups in which zero bits are padded among a plurality of bit groups based on a shortening pattern, and may pad zero bits to all bits within some of the determined bit groups and some bits within the remaining bit groups.

In this case, the shortening pattern of the padded bit group may be defined as shown in following Table 8. In this case, the zero padders 213 and 314 may determine the shortening patterns according to a corresponding mode as shown in following Table 8.

TABLE 8 π_(S)(j) (0 ≦ j < N_(info)_group) Signaling FEC π_(S)(0) π_(S)(1) π_(S)(2) π_(S)(3) π_(S)(4) π_(S)(5) π_(S)(6) π_(S)(7) π_(S)(8) Type N_(info)_group π_(S)(9) π_(S)(10) π_(S)(11) π_(S)(12) π_(S)(13) π_(S)(14) π_(S)(15) π_(S)(16) π_(S)(17) L1-Basic 9 4 1 5 2 8 6 0 7 3 (for all modes) — — — — — — — — — L1-Detail 7 8 5 4 1 2 6 3 0 Mode 1 — — — — — — — — — L1-Detail 6 1 7 8 0 2 4 3 5 Mode 2 — — — — — — — — — L1-Detail 18 0 12 15 13 2 5 7 9 8 Mode 3 6 16 10 14 1 17 11 4 3 L1-Detail 0 15 5 16 17 1 6 13 11 Mode 4 4 7 12 8 14 2 3 9 10 L1-Detail 2 4 5 17 9 7 1 6 15 Mode 5 8 10 14 16 0 11 13 12 3 L1-Detail 0 15 5 16 17 1 6 13 11 Mode 6 4 7 12 8 14 2 3 9 10 L1-Detail 15 7 8 11 5 10 16 4 12 Mode 7 3 0 6 9 1 14 17 2 13

Here, π_(s)(j) is an index of a j-th padded bit group. That is, the π_(s)(j) represents a shortening pattern order of the j-th bit group. Further, N_(info) _(_) _(group) is the number of bit groups configuring the LDPC information bits.

In detail, the zero padders 213 and 314 may determine Z_(π) _(s) ₍₀₎, Z_(π) _(s) ₍₁₎, . . . , Z_(π) _(s) _((N) _(pad) ⁻¹⁾ as bit groups in which all bits within the bit group are padded by zero bits based on the shortening pattern, and pad zero bits to all bits of the bit groups. That is, the zero padders 213 and 314 may pad zero bits to all bits of a π_(s)(0)-th bit group, a π_(s)(1)-th bit group, . . . a π_(s)(N_(pad)−1)-th bit group among the plurality of bit groups based on the shortening pattern.

As such, when N_(pad) is not 0, the zero padders 213 and 314 may determine a list of the N_(pad) bit groups, that is, Z_(π) _(z) ₍₀₎, Z_(π) _(s) ₍₁₎, . . . , Z_(π) _(s) _((N) _(pad) ⁻¹⁾ based on above Table 8, and pad zero bits to all bits within the determined bit group.

However, when the N_(pad) is 0, the foregoing procedure may be omitted.

Since the number of all the padded zero bits is K_(ldpc)−N_(outer) and the number of zero bits padded to the N_(pad) bit groups is 360×N_(pad), the zero padders 213 and 314 may additionally pad zero bits to K_(ldpc)−N_(outer)−360×N_(pad) LDPC information bits.

In this case, the zero padders 213 and 314 may determine a bit group to which zero bits are additionally padded based on the shortening pattern, and may additionally pad zero bits from a head portion of the determined bit group.

In detail, the zero padders 213 and 314 may determine Z_(π) _(s) _((N) _(pad) ₎ as a bit group to which zero bits are additionally padded based on the shortening pattern, and may additionally pad zero bits to the K_(ldpc)−N_(outer)−360×N_(pad) bits positioned at the head portion of Z_(π) _(s) _((N) _(pad) ₎. Therefore, the K_(ldpc)−N_(outer)−360×N_(pad) zero bits may be padded from a first bit of the π_(s)(N_(pad))-th bit group.

As a result, for Z_(π) _(s) _((N) _(pad) ₎, zero bits may be additionally padded to the K_(ldpc)−N_(bch)−360×N_(pad) bits positioned at the head portion of the Z_(π) _(s) _((N) _(pad) ₎.

The foregoing example describes that K_(ldpc)−N_(oater)−360×N_(pad) zero bits are padded from a first bit of the Z_(π) _(s) _((N) _(pad) ₎, which is only one example. Therefore, the position at which zero bits are padded in the Z_(π) _(s) _((N) _(pad) ₎ may be changed. For example, the K_(ldpc)−N_(outer)−360×N_(pad) zero bits may be padded to a middle portion or a last portion of the Z_(π) _(s) _((N) _(pad) ₎ or may also be padded at any position of the Z_(π) _(s) _((N) _(pad) ₎.

Next, the zero padders 213 and 314 may map the BCH-encoded bits to the positions at which zero bits are not padded to configure the LDPC information bits.

Therefore, the N_(outer) BCH-encoded bits are sequentially mapped to the bit positions at which zero bits in the K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits (i₀, i₁, . . . , i_(K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹) are not padded, and thus, the K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits may be formed of the N_(outer) BCH-encoded bits and the K_(ldpc)−N_(outer) information bits.

The padded zero bits are not transmitted to the receiver 200. As such, a procedure of padding the zero bits or a procedure of padding the zero bits and then not transmitting the padded zero bits to the receiver 200 may be called shortening.

The LDPC encoders 214 and 315 perform LDPC encoding on the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling, respectively.

In detail, the LDPC encoders 214 and 315 may perform LDPC encoding on the LDPC information bits output from the zero padders 213 and 31 to generate LDPC parity bits, and output an LDPC codeword including the LDPC information bits and the LDPC parity bits to the parity permutators 215 and 316, respectively.

That is, K_(ldpc) bits output from the zero padder 213 may include K_(sig) L1-basic signaling bits, M_(outer)(=N_(outer)−K_(sig)) BCH parity check bits, and K_(ldpc)−N_(outer) padded zero bits, which may configure K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits i=(i₀, i₁, . . . , i_(K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹) for the LDPC encoder 214.

Further, the K_(ldpc) bits output from the zero padder 314 may include the K_(sig) L1-detail signaling bits, the M_(outer)(=N_(outer)−K_(sig)) BCH parity check bits, and the (K_(ldpc)−N_(outer)) padded zero bits, which may configure the K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits i=(i₀, i₁, . . . , i_(K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹) for the LDPC encoder 315.

In this case, the LDPC encoders 214 and 315 may systematically perform the LDPC encoding on the K_(ldpc) LDPC information bits to generate an LDPC codeword Λ=(c₀, c₁, . . . , c_(N) _(inner) ⁻¹)=(i₀, i₁, . . . , i_(K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹, p₀, p₁, . . . , p_(N) _(inner) _(−K) _(ldpc) ⁻¹) formed of N_(inner) bits.

In the L1-basic modes and the L1-detail modes 1 and 2, the LDPC encoders 214 and 315 may encode the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling at a code rate of 3/15 to generate 16200 LDPC codeword bits. In this case, the LDPC encoders 214 and 315 may perform the LDPC encoding based on above Table 1.

Further, in the L1-detail modes 3, 4, 5 6, and 7, the LDPC encoder 315 may encode the L1-detail signaling at a code rate of 6/15 to generate the 16200 LDPC codeword bits. In this case, the LDPC encoder 315 may perform the LDPC encoding based on above Table 3.

The code rate and the code length for the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling are as shown in above Table 4, and the number of LDPC information bits are as shown in above Table 7.

The parity permutators 215 and 316 perform parity permutation. That is, the parity permutators 215 and 316 may perform permutation only on the LDPC parity bits among the LDPC information bits and the LDPC parity bits.

In detail, the parity permutators 215 and 316 may perform the permutation only on the LDPC parity bits in the LDPC codewords output from the LDPC encoders 214 and 315, and output the parity permutated LDPC codewords to the repeaters 216 and 317, respectively. The parity permutator 316 may output the parity permutated LDPC codeword to an additional parity generator 319. In this case, the additional parity generator 319 may use the parity permutated LDPC codeword output from the parity permutator 316 to generate additional parity bits.

For this purpose, the parity permutators 215 and 316 may include a parity interleaver (not illustrated) and a group-wise interleaver (not illustrated).

First, the parity interleaver may interleave only the LDPC parity bits among the LDPC information bits and the LDPC parity bits configuring the LDPC codeword. However, the parity interleaver may perform the parity interleaving only in the cases of the L1-detail modes 3, 4, 5 6, and 7. That is, since the L1-basic modes and the L1-detail modes 1 and 2 include the parity interleaving as a portion of the LDPC encoding process, in the L1-basic modes and the L1-detail modes 1 and 2, the parity interleaver may not perform the parity interleaving.

In the mode of performing the parity interleaving, the parity interleaver may interleave the LDPC parity bits based on following Equation 20.

u _(i) =c _(i) for 0≦i<K _(ldpc) (information bits are not interleaved.)

u _(K) _(ldpc) _(+360t+s) =c _(K) _(ldpc) _(+27s+t) for 0≦s<360, 0≦t<27   (20)

In detail, based on above Equation 20, the LDPC codeword (c₀, c₁, c_(N) _(inner) ⁻¹) is parity-interleaved by the parity interleaver and an output of the parity interleaver may be represented by U=(u₀, u₁, . . . , u_(N) _(inner) ⁻¹).

Since the L1-basic modes and the L1-detail modes 1 and 2 do not use the parity interleaver, an output U=(u₀, u₁, . . . , u_(N) _(inner) ⁻¹) of the parity interleaver may be represented as following Equation 21.

u _(i) =c _(i) for 0≦i<N _(inner)   (21)

The group-wise interleaver may perform the group-wise interleaving on the output of the parity interleaver.

Here, as described above, the output of the parity interleaver may be an LDPC codeword parity-interleaved by the parity interleaver or may be an LDPC codeword which is not parity-interleaved by the parity interleaver.

Therefore, when the parity interleaving is performed, the group-wise interleaver may perform the group-wise interleaving on the parity interleaved LDPC codeword, and when the parity interleaving is not performed, the group-wise interleaver may perform the group-wise interleaving on the LDPC codeword which is not parity-interleaved.

In detail, the group-wise interleaver may interleave the output of the parity interleaver in a bit group unit.

For this purpose, the group-wise interleaver may divide an LDPC codeword output from the parity interleaver into a plurality of bit groups. As a result, the LDPC parity bits output from the parity interleaver may be divided into a plurality of bit groups.

In detail, the group-wise interleaver may divide the LDPC-encoded bits (u₀, u₁, . . . , u_(N) _(inner) ⁻¹) output from the parity interleaver into N_(group)(=N_(inner)/360) bit groups based on following Equation 22.

X _(j) ={u _(k)|360×j≦k<360×(j+1), 0≦k<N _(inner)} for 0≦j<N _(group)   (22)

In above Equation 22, X_(j) represents the j-th bit group.

FIG. 9 illustrates an example of dividing an LDPC codeword output from the parity interleaver into the plurality of bit groups.

Referring to FIG. 9, the LDPC codeword is divided into N_(group)(=N_(inner)/360) bit groups, and each bit group X_(j) for 0≦j<N_(group) is formed of 360 bits.

As a result, the LDPC information bits formed of the K_(ldpc) bits may be divided into K_(ldpc)/360 bit groups, and the LDPC parity bits formed of N_(inner)−K_(ldpc) bits may be divided into (N_(inner)−K_(ldpc))/360 bit groups.

Further, the group-wise interleaver performs group-wise interleaving on the LDPC codeword output from the parity interleaver.

In this case, the group-wise interleaver does not perform interleaving on the LDPC information bits, and performs interleaving only on the LDPC parity bits to change the order of the plurality of bit groups configuring the LDPC parity bits.

As a result, the LDPC information bits among the LDPC codeword may not be interleaved by the group-wise interleaver but the LDPC parity bits among the LDPC codeword may be interleaved by the group-wise interleaver. In this case, the LDPC parity bits may be interleaved in a group unit.

In detail, the group-wise interleaver may perform the group-wise interleaving on the LDPC codeword output from the parity interleaver based on following Equation 23.

Y _(j) =X _(j), 0≦j<K _(ldpc)/360

Y _(j) =X _(πp(j)) , K _(ldpc)/360≦j<N _(group)   (23)

Here, X_(j) represents a j-th bit group among the plurality of bit groups configuring the LDPC codeword, that is, the j-th bit group before the group-wise interleaving, and Y_(j) represents a group-wise interleaved j-th bit group. Further, π_(p)(j) represents a permutation order for the group-wise interleaving.

The permutation order may be defined based on following Table 9 and Table 10. Here, Table 9 shows a group-wise interleaving pattern of a parity portion in the L1-basic modes and the L1-detail modes 1 and 2, and Table 10 shows a group-wise interleaving pattern of a parity portion for the L1-detail modes 3, 4, 5 6, and 7.

In this case, the group-wise interleaver may determine the group-wise interleaving pattern according to a corresponding mode shown in following Tables 9 and 10.

TABLE 9 Order of group-wise interleaving π_(p)(j) (9 ≦ j < 45) π_(p)(9) π_(p)(10) π_(p)(11) π_(p)(12) π_(p)(13) π_(p)(14) π_(p)(15) π_(p)(16) π_(p)(17) π_(p)(18) π_(p)(19) π_(p)(20) Signaling π_(p)(21) π_(p)(22) π_(p)(23) π_(p)(24) π_(p)(25) π_(p)(26) π_(p)(27) π_(p)(28) π_(p)(29) π_(p)(30) π_(p)(31) π_(p)(32) FEC Type N_(group) π_(p)(33) π_(p)(34) π_(p)(35) π_(p)(36) π_(p)(37) π_(p)(38) π_(p)(39) π_(p)(40) π_(p)(41) π_(p)(42) π_(p)(43) π_(p)(44) L1-Basic 45 20 23 25 32 38 41 18 9 10 11 31 24 (all modes) 14 15 26 40 33 19 28 34 16 39 27 30 21 44 43 35 42 36 12 13 29 22 37 17 L1-Detail 16 22 27 30 37 44 20 23 25 32 38 41 Mode 1 9 10 17 18 21 33 35 14 28 12 15 19 11 24 29 34 36 13 40 43 31 26 39 42 L1-Detail 9 31 23 10 11 25 43 29 36 16 27 34 Mode 2 26 18 37 15 13 17 35 21 20 24 44 12 22 40 19 32 38 41 30 33 14 28 39 42

TABLE 10 Order of group-wise interleaving π_(p)(j) (18 ≦ j < 45) Signaling π_(p)(18) π_(p)(19) π_(p)(20) π_(p)(21) π_(p)(22) π_(p)(23) π_(p)(24) π_(p)(25) π_(p)(26) π_(p)(27) π_(p)(28) π_(p)(29) π_(p)(30) π_(p)(31) FEC Type N_(group) π_(p)(32) π_(p)(33) π_(p)(34) π_(p)(35) π_(p)(36) π_(p)(37) π_(p)(38) π_(p)(39) π_(p)(40) π_(p)(41) π_(p)(42) π_(p)(43) π_(p)(44) L1-Detail 45 19 37 30 42 23 44 27 40 21 34 25 32 29 24 Mode 3 26 35 39 20 18 43 31 36 38 22 33 28 41 L1-Detail 20 35 42 39 26 23 30 18 28 37 32 27 44 43 Mode 4 41 40 38 36 34 33 31 29 25 24 22 21 19 L1-Detail 19 37 33 26 40 43 22 29 24 35 44 31 27 20 Mode 5 21 39 25 42 34 18 32 38 23 30 28 36 41 L1-Detail 20 35 42 39 26 23 30 18 28 37 32 27 44 43 Mode 6 41 40 38 36 34 33 31 29 25 24 22 21 19 L1-Detail 44 23 29 33 24 28 21 27 42 18 22 31 32 37 Mode 7 43 30 25 35 20 34 39 36 19 41 40 26 38

Hereinafter, for the group-wise interleaving pattern in the L1-detail mode 2 as an example, an operation of the group-wise interleaver will be described.

In the L1-detail mode 2, the LDPC encoder 315 performs LDPC encoding on 3240 LDPC information bits at a code rate of 3/15 to generate 12960 LDPC parity bits. In this case, an LDPC codeword may be formed of 16200 bits.

Each bit group is formed of 360 bits, and as a result the LDPC codeword formed of 16200 bits is divided into 45 bit groups.

Here, since the number of the LDPC information bits is 3240 and the number of the LDPC parity bits is 12960, a 0-th bit group to an 8-th bit group correspond to the LDPC information bits and a 9-th bit group to a 44-th bit group correspond to the LDPC parity bits.

In this case, the group-wise interleaver does not perform interleaving on the bit groups configuring the LDPC information bits, that is, a 0-th bit group to a 8-th bit group based on above Equation 23 and Table 9, but may interleave the bit groups configuring the LDPC parity bits, that is, a 9-th bit group to a 44-th bit group in a group unit to change an order of the 9-th bit group to the 44-th bit group.

In detail, in the L1-detail mode 2 in above Table 9, above Equation 23 may be represented like Y₀=X₀, Y₁=X₁, . . . , Y₇=X₇, Y₈=X₈, Y₉=X_(πp(9))=X₉, Y₁₀=X_(πp(10))=X₃₁, Y₁₁=X_(πp(11))=X₂₃, . . . , Y₄₂=X_(πp(42))=X₂₈, Y₄₃=X_(πp(43))=X₃₉, Y₄₄=X_(πp(44))=X₄₂.

Therefore, the group-wise interleaver does not change an order of the 0-th bit group to the 8-th bit group including the LDPC information bits but may change an order of the 9-th bit group to the 44-th bit group including the LDPC parity bits.

In detail, the group-wise interleaver may change the order of the bit groups from the 9-th bit group to the 44-th bit group so that the 9-th bit group is positioned at the 9-th position, the 31-th bit group is positioned at the 10-th position, the 23-th bit group is positioned at the 11-th position, . . . , the 28-th bit group is positioned at the 42-th position, the 39-th bit group is positioned at the 43-th position, the 42-th bit group is positioned at the 44-th position.

As described below, since the puncturers 217 and 318 perform puncturing from the last parity bit, the parity bit groups may be arranged in an inverse order of the puncturing pattern by the parity permutation. That is, the first bit group to be punctured is positioned at the last bit group.

The foregoing example describes that only the parity bits are interleaved, which is only one example. That is, the parity permutators 215 and 316 may also interleave the LDPC information bits. In this case, the parity permutators 215 and 316 may interleave the LDPC information bits with identity and output the LDPC information bits having the same order before the interleaving so that the order of the LDPC information bits is not changed.

The repeaters 216 and 317 may repeat at least some bits of the parity permutated LDPC codeword at a position subsequent to the LDPC information bits, and output the repeated LDPC codeword, that is, the LDPC codeword bits including the repetition bits, to the puncturers 217 and 318. The repeater 317 may also output the repeated LDPC codeword to the additional parity generator 319. In this case, the additional parity generator 319 may use the repeated LDPC codeword to generate the additional parity bits.

In detail, the repeaters 216 and 317 may repeat a predetermined number of LDPC parity bits after the LDPC information bits. That is, the repeaters 216 and 317 may add the predetermined number of repeated LDPC parity bits after the LDPC information bits. Therefore, the repeated LDPC parity bits are positioned between the LDPC information bits and the LDPC parity bits within the LDPC codeword.

Therefore, since the predetermined number of bits within the LDPC codeword after the repetition may be repeated and additionally transmitted to the receiver 200, the foregoing operation may be referred to as repetition.

The term “adding” represents disposing the repetition bits between the LDPC information bits and the LDPC parity bits so that the bits are repeated.

The repetition may be performed only on the L1-basic mode 1 and the L1-detail mode 1, and may not be performed on the other modes. In this case, the repeaters 216 and 317 do not perform the repetition and may output the parity permutated LDPC codeword to the puncturers 217 and 318.

Hereinafter, a method for performing repetition will be described in more detail.

The repeaters 216 and 317 may calculate a number N_(repeat) of bits additionally transmitted per an LDPC codeword based on following Equation 24.

N _(repeat)=2×└C×N _(outer) ┘+D   (24)

In above Equation 24, C has a fixed number and D may be an even integer. Referring to above Equation 24, it may be appreciated that the number of bits to be repeated may be calculated by multiplying C by a given N_(outer) and adding D thereto.

The parameters C and D for the repetition may be selected based on following Table 11. That is, the repeaters 216 and 317 may determine the C and D based on a corresponding mode as shown in following Table 11.

TABLE 11 N_(ldpc)_parity N_(outer) K_(sig) K_(ldpc) C D (= N_(inner) − K_(ldpc)) η_(MOD) L1-Basic Mode 1 368 200 3240 0 3672 12960 2 L1-Detail Mode 1 568~2520 400~2352 3240 61/16 −508 12960 2

Further, the repeaters 216 and 317 may repeat N_(repeat) LDPC parity bits.

In detail, when N_(repeat)≦N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity), the repeaters 216 and 317 may add first N_(repeat) bits of the parity permutated LDPC parity bits to the LDPC information bits as illustrated in FIG. 12. That is, the repeaters 216 and 317 may add a first LDPC parity bit among the parity permutated LDPC parity bits as an N_(repeat)-th LDPC parity bit after the LDPC information bits.

When N_(repeat)>N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity), the repeaters 216 and 317 may add the parity permutated N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity) LDPC parity bits to the LDPC information bits as illustrated in FIG. 11, and may additionally add an N_(repeat)−N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity) number of the parity permutated LDPC parity bits to the N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity) LDPC parity bits which are first added. That is, the repeaters 216 and 317 may add all the parity permutated LDPC parity bits after the LDPC information bits and additionally add the first LDPC parity bit to the N_(repeat)−N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity)−th LDPC parity bit among the parity permutated LDPC parity bits after the LDPC parity bits which are first added.

Therefore, in the L1-basic mode 1 and the L1-detail mode 1, the additional N_(repeat) bits may be selected within the LDPC codeword and transmitted.

The puncturers 217 and 318 may puncture some of the LDPC parity bits included in the LDPC codeword output from the repeaters 216 and 317, and output a punctured LDPC codeword (that is, the remaining LDPC codeword bits other than the punctured bits and also referred to as an LDPC codeword after puncturing) to the zero removers 218 and 321. Further, the puncturer 318 may provide information (for example, the number and positions of punctured bits, etc.) about the punctured LDPC parity bits to the additional parity generator 319. In this case, the additional parity generator 319 may generate additional parity bits based thereon.

As a result, after going through the parity permutation, some LDPC parity bits may be punctured.

In this case, the punctured LDPC parity bits are not transmitted in a frame in which L1 signaling bits are transmitted. In detail, the punctured LDPC parity bits are not transmitted in a current frame in which the L1-signaling bits are transmitted, and in some cases, the punctured LDPC parity bits may be transmitted in a frame before the current frame, which will be described with reference to the additional parity generator 319.

For this purpose, the puncturers 217 and 318 may determine the number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured per LDPC codeword and a size of one coded block.

In detail, the puncturers 217 and 318 may calculate a temporary number N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) of LDPC parity bits to be punctured based on following Equation 25. That is, for a given N_(outer), the puncturers 217 and 318 may calculate the temporary number N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) of LDPC parity bits to be punctured based on following Equation 25.

N _(punc) _(_) _(temp) =└A×(K _(ldpc) −N _(outer))┘+B   (25)

Referring to above Equation 25, the temporary size of bits to be punctured may be calculated by adding a constant integer B to an integer obtained from a result of multiplying a shortening length (that is, K_(ldpc)−N_(outer)) by a preset constant A value. In the present exemplary embodiment, it is apparent that the constant A value is set at a ratio of the number of bits to be punctured to the number of bits to be shortened but may be variously set according to requirements of a system.

The B value is a value which represents a length of bits to be punctured even when the shortening length is 0, and thus, represents a minimum length that the punctured bits can have. Further, the A and B values serve to adjust an actually transmitted code rate. That is, to prepare for a case in which the length of information bits, that is, the length of the L1 signaling is short or a case in which the length of the L1 signaling is long, the A and B values serve to adjust the actually transmitted code rate to be reduced.

The above K_(ldpc), A and B are listed in following Table 12 which shows parameters for puncturing. Therefore, the puncturers 217 and 318 may determine the parameters for puncturing according to a corresponding mode as shown in following Table 12.

TABLE 12 Signaling FEC Type N_(outer) K_(ldpc) A B N_(ldpc)_parity η_(MOD) L1-Basic Mode 1 368 3240 0 9360 12960 2 Mode 2 11460 2 Mode 3 12360 2 Mode 4 12292 4 Mode 5 12350 6 Mode 6 12432 8 Mode 7 12776 8 L1-Detail Mode 1 568~2520 7/2 0 2 Mode 2 568~3240 2 6036 2 Mode 3 568~6480 6480 11/16 4653 9720 2 Mode 4 29/32 3200 4 Mode 5 3/4 4284 6 Mode 6 11/16 4900 8 Mode 7  49/256 8246 8

The puncturers 217 and 318 may calculate a temporary size N_(FEC) _(_) _(temp) of one coded block as shown in following Equation 26. Here, the number N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity) of LDPC parity bits according to a corresponding mode is shown as above Table 12.

N _(FEC) _(_) _(temp) =N _(outer) +N _(ldcp) _(_) _(parity) −N _(punc) _(_) _(temp)   (26)

Further, the puncturers 217 and 318 may calculate a size N_(FEC) of one coded block as shown in following Equation 27.

$\begin{matrix} {N_{FEC} = {\left\lceil \frac{N_{{FEC}\; \_ \; {temp}}}{\eta_{MOD}} \right\rceil \times \eta_{MOD}}} & (27) \end{matrix}$

In above Equation 27, η_(MOD) is a modulation order. For example, when the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling are modulated by QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM or 256-QAM according to a corresponding mode, η_(MOD) may be 2, 4, 6 and 8 as shown in above Table 12. According to above Equation 27, N_(FEC) may be an integer multiple of the modulation order.

Further, the puncturers 217 and 318 may calculate the number N_(punc) of LDPC parity bits to be punctured based on following Equation 28.

N _(punc) =N _(punc) _(_) _(temp)−(N _(FEC) −N _(FEC) _(_) _(temp))   (28)

Here, N_(p) is 0 or a positive integer. Further, N_(FEC) is the number of bits of an information block which are obtained by subtracting N_(punc) bits to be punctured from N_(outer)+N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity) bits obtained by performing the BCH encoding and the LDPC encoding on K_(sig) information bits. That is, N_(FEC) is the number of bits other than the repetition bits among the actually transmitted bits, and may be called the number of shortened and punctured LDPC codeword bits.

Referring to the foregoing process, the puncturers 217 and 318 multiplies A by the number of padded zero bits, that is, a shortening length and adding B to a result to calculate the temporary number N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) of LDPC parity bits to be punctured.

Further, the puncturers 217 and 318 calculate the temporary number N_(FEC) _(_) _(temp) of LDPC codeword bits to constitute the LDPC codeword after puncturing and shortening based on the N_(punc) _(_) _(temp).

In detail, the LDPC information bits are LDPC-encoded, and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding are added to the LDPC information bits to configure the LDPC codeword. Here, the LDPC information bits include the BCH-encoded bits in which the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling are BCH encoded, and in some cases, may further include padded zero bits.

In this case, since the padded zero bits are LDPC-encoded, and then, are not transmitted to the receiver 200, the shortened LDPC codeword, that is, the LDPC codeword (that is, shortened LDPC codeword) except the padded zero bits may be formed of the BCH-encoded bits and LDPC parity bits.

Therefore, the puncturers 217 and 318 subtract the temporary number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured from a sum of the number of BCH-encoded bits and the number of LDPC parity bits to calculate the N_(FEC) _(_) _(temp).

The punctured and shortened LDPC codeword (that is, LDPC codeword bits remaining after puncturing and shortening) are mapped to constellation symbols by various modulation schemes such as QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM or 256-QAM according to a corresponding mode, and the constellation symbols may be transmitted to the receiver 200 through a frame.

Therefore, the puncturers 217 and 318 determine the number N_(FEC) of LDPC codeword bits to constitute the LDPC codeword after puncturing and shortening based on N_(FEC) _(_) _(temp), N_(FEC) being an integer multiple of the modulation order, and determine the number N_(punc) of bits which need to be punctured based on LDPC codeword bits after shortening to obtain the N_(FEC).

When zero bits are not padded, an LDPC codeword may be formed of BCH-encoded bits and LDPC parity bits, and the shortening may be omitted.

Further, in the L1-basic mode 1 and the L1-detail mode 1, repetition is performed, and thus, the number of shortened and punctured LDPC codeword bits is equal to N_(FEC)+N_(repeat).

The puncturers 217 and 318 may puncture the LDPC parity bits as many as the calculated number.

In this case, the puncturers 217 and 318 may puncture the last N_(punc) bits of all the LDPC codewords. That is, the puncturers 217 and 318 may puncture the N_(punc) bits from the last LDPC parity bits.

In detail, when the repetition is not performed, the parity permutated LDPC codeword includes only LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding.

In this case, the puncturers 217 and 318 may puncture the last N_(punc) bits of all the parity permutated LDPC codewords. Therefore, the N_(punc) bits from the last LDPC parity bits among the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding may be punctured.

When the repetition is performed, the parity permutated and repeated LDPC codeword includes the repeated LDPC parity bits and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding.

In this case, the puncturers 217 and 318 may puncture the last N_(punc) bits of all the parity permutated and repeated LDPC codewords, respectively, as illustrated in FIGS. 12 and 13.

In detail, the repeated LDPC parity bits are positioned between the LDPC information bits and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding, and thus, the puncturers 217 and 318 may puncture the N_(punc) bits from the last LDPC parity bits among the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding, respectively.

As such, the puncturers 217 and 318 may puncture the N_(punc) bits from the last LDPC parity bits, respectively.

N_(punc) is 0 or a positive integer and the repetition may be applied only to the L1-basic mode 1 and the L1-detail mode 1.

The foregoing example describes that the repetition is performed, and then, the puncturing is performed, which is only one example. In some cases, after the puncturing is performed, the repetition may be performed.

The additional parity generator 319 may select bits from the LDPC parity bits to generate additional parity (AP) bits.

In this case, the additional parity bits may be selected from the LDPC parity bits generated based on the L1-detail signaling transmitted in a current frame, and transmitted to the receiver 200 through a frame before the current frame, that is, a previous frame.

In detail, the L1-detail signaling is LDPC-encoded, and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding are added to the L1-detail signaling to configure an LDPC codeword.

Further, puncturing and shortening are performed on the LDPC codeword, and the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword may be mapped to a frame to be transmitted to the receiver 200. Here, when the repetition is performed according to a corresponding mode, the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword may include the repeated LDPC parity bits.

In this case, the L1-detail signaling corresponding to each frame may be transmitted to the receiver 200 through each frame, along with the LDPC parity bits. For example, the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword including the L1-detail signaling corresponding to an (i−1)-th frame may be mapped to the (i−1)-th frame to be transmitted to the receiver 200, and the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword including the L1-detail signaling corresponding to the i-th frame may be mapped to the i-th frame to be transmitted to the receiver 200.

The additional parity generator 319 may select at least some of the LDPC parity bits generated based on the L1-detail signaling transmitted in the i-th frame to generate the additional parity bits.

In detail, some of the LDPC parity bits generated by performing the LDPC encoding on the L1-detail signaling are punctured, and then, are not transmitted to the receiver 200. In this case, the additional parity generator 319 may select at least some of the punctured LDPC parity bits among the LDPC parity bits generated by performing the LDPC encoding on the L1-detail signaling transmitted in the i-th frame, thereby generating the additional parity bits.

Further, the additional parity generator 319 may select at least some of the LDPC parity bits to be transmitted to the receiver 200 through the i-th frame to generate the additional parity bits.

In detail, the LDPC parity bits included in the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword to be mapped to the i-th frame may be configured of only the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding according to a corresponding mode or the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding and the repeated LDPC parity bits.

In this case, the additional parity generator 319 may select at least some of the LDPC parity bits included in the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword to be mapped to the i-th frame to generate the additional parity bits.

The additional parity bits may be transmitted to the receiver 200 through the frame before the i-th frame, that is, the (i−1)-th frame.

That is, the transmitter 100 may not only transmit the punctured and shortened LDPC codeword including the L1-detail signaling corresponding to the (i−1)-th frame but also transmit the additional parity bits generated based on the L1-detail signaling transmitted in the i-th frame to the receiver 200 through the (i−1)-th frame.

In this case, the frame in which the additional parity bits are transmitted may be temporally the most previous frame among the frames before the current frame.

For example, the additional parity bits have the same bootstrap major/minor version as the current frame among the frames before the current frame, and may be transmitted in temporally the most previous frame.

In some cases, the additional parity generator 319 may not generate the additional parity bits.

In this case, the transmitter 100 may transmit information about whether additional parity bits for an L1-detail signaling of a next frame are transmitted through the current frame to the receiver 200 using an L1-basic signaling transmitted through the current frame.

For example, the use of the additional parity bits for the L1-detail signaling of the next frame having the same bootstrap major/minor version as the current frame may be signaled through a field L1B_L1_Detail_additional_parity_mode of the L1-basic parameter of the current frame. In detail, when the L1B_L1_Detail_additional_parity_mode in the L1-basic parameter of the current frame is set to be ‘00’, additional parity bits for the L1-detail signaling of the next frame are not transmitted in the current frame.

As such, to additionally increase robustness of the L1-detail signaling, the additional parity bits may be transmitted in the frame before the current frame in which the L1-detail signaling of the current frame is transmitted.

FIG. 14 illustrates an example in which the additional parity bits for the L1-detail signaling of the i-th frame are transmitted in a preamble of the (i−1)-th frame.

FIG. 14 illustrates that the L1-detail signaling transmitted through the i-th frame is segmented into M blocks by segmentation and each of the segmented blocks is FEC encoded.

Therefore, M number of LDPC codewords, that is, an LDPC codeword including LDPC information bits L1-D(i)_1 and parity bits parity for L1-D(i)_1 therefor, . . . , and an LDPC codeword including LDPC information bits L1-D(i)_M and parity bits parity for L1-D(i)_M therefor are mapped to the i-th frame to be transmitted to the receiver 200.

In this case, the additional parity bits generated based on the L1-detail signaling transmitted in the i-th frame may be transmitted to the receiver 200 through the (i−1)-th frame.

In detail, the additional parity bits, that is, AP for L1-D(i)_1, . . . AP for L1-D(i)_M generated based on the L1-detail signaling transmitted in the i-th frame may be mapped to the preamble of the (i−1)-th frame to be transmitted to the receiver 200. As a result of using the additional parity bits, a diversity gain for the L1 signaling may be obtained.

Hereinafter, a method for generating additional parity bits will be described in detail.

The additional parity generator 319 calculates a temporary number N_(AP) _(_) _(temp) of additional parity bits based on following Equation 29.

$\begin{matrix} {{N_{{AP}\; \_ \; {temp}} = {\min \begin{Bmatrix} {{0.5 \times K \times \left( {N_{outer} + N_{{idpc}\; \_ \; {parity}} - N_{punc} + N_{repeat}} \right)},} \\ \left( {N_{{idpc}\; \_ \; {parity}} + N_{punc} + N_{repeat}} \right) \end{Bmatrix}}},\mspace{20mu} {K = 0},1,2} & (29) \end{matrix}$

In above Equation 29,

${\min \left( {a,b} \right)} = \left\{ {\begin{matrix} {a,} & {{{if}\mspace{14mu} a} \leq b} \\ {b,} & {{{if}\mspace{14mu} b} < a} \end{matrix}.} \right.$

Further, K represents a ratio of the additional parity bits to a half of a total number of bits of a transmitted coded L1-detail signaling block (that is, bits configuring the L1-detail signaling block repeated, punctured, and have the zero bits removed (that is, shortened)).

In this case, K corresponds to an L1B_L1_Detail_additional_parity_mode field of the L1-basic signaling. Here, a value of the L1B_L1_Detail_additional_parity_mode associated with the L1-detail signaling of the i-th frame (that is, frame (#i)) may be transmitted in the (i−1)-th frame (that is, frame (#i−1)).

As described above, when L1 detail modes are 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, since repetition is not performed, in above Equation 29, N_(repeat) is 0.

Further, the additional parity generator 319 calculates the number N_(AP) of additional parity bits based on following Equation 30. Therefore, the number N_(AP) of additional parity bits may be an integer multiple of a modulation order.

$\begin{matrix} {N_{AP} = {\left\lfloor \frac{N_{{AP}\; \_ \; {temp}}}{\eta_{MOD}} \right\rfloor \times \eta_{MOD}}} & (30) \end{matrix}$

In above Equation 30, └x┘ is a maximum integer which is not greater than x. Here, η_(MOD) is the modulation order. For example, when the L1-detail signaling is modulated by QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM or 256-QAM according to a corresponding mode, the η_(MOD) may be 2, 4, 6 or 8, respectively.

As such, the number of additional parity bits to be generated may be determined based on the total number of bits transmitted in the current frame.

Next, the additional parity generator 319 may select bits as many as the number of bits calculated in the LDPC parity bits to generate the additional parity bits.

In detail, when the number of punctured LDPC parity bits is equal to or greater than the number of additional parity bits to be generated, the additional parity generator 319 may select bits as many as the calculated number from the first LDPC parity bit among the punctured LDPC parity bits to generate the additional parity bits.

When the number of punctured LDPC parity bits is less than the number of additional parity bits to be generated, the additional parity generator 319 may first select all the punctured LDPC parity bits and additionally select bits as many as the number obtained by subtracting the number of punctured LDPC parity bits from the number of additional parity bits to be generated, from the first LDPC parity bit among the LDPC parity bits included in the LDPC codeword to generate the additional parity bits.

In detail, when the repetition is not performed, LDPC parity bits included in a repeated LDPC codeword are the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding.

In this case, the additional parity generator 319 may first select all the punctured LDPC parity bits and additionally select bits as many as the number obtained by subtracting the number of punctured LDPC parity bits from the number of additional parity bits to be generated, from the first LDPC parity bit among the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding, to generate the additional parity bits.

Here, the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding are divided into the non-punctured LDPC parity bits and the punctured LDPC parity bits. As a result, when bits are selected from the first bit among the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding, they may be selected in an order of the non-punctured LDPC parity bits and the punctured LDPC parity bits.

When the repetition is performed, the LDPC parity bits included in the repeated LDPC codeword are the repeated LDPC parity bits and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding. Here, the repeated LDPC parity bits are positioned between the LDPC information bits and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding.

In this case, the additional parity generator 319 may first select all the punctured LDPC parity bits and additionally select the bits as many as the number obtained by subtracting the number of punctured LDPC parity bits from the number of additional bits, from the first LDPC parity bit among the repeated LDPC parity bits to generate the additional parity bits.

Here, when the bits are selected from the first bit among the repeated LDPC parity bits, they may be selected in an order of the repetition bits and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding. Further, the bits may be selected in an order of the non-punctured LDPC parity bits and the punctured LDPC parity bits, within the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding.

Hereinafter, methods for generating additional parity bits according to exemplary embodiments will be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 15 to 17.

FIGS. 15 to 17 are diagrams for describing the method for generating additional parity bits when repetition is performed, according to the exemplary embodiment. In this case, the repeated LDPC codeword V=(v₀, v₁, . . . , v_(N) _(inner) _(+N) _(repeat) ⁻¹) may be represented as illustrated in FIG. 15.

First, in the case of N_(AP)≦N_(punc), as illustrated in FIG. 16, the additional parity generator 319 may select N_(AP) bits from the first LDPC parity bit among punctured LDPC parity bits to generate the additional parity bits.

Therefore, for the additional parity bits, the punctured LDPC parity bits (v_(N) _(repeat) _(+N) _(inner) _(−N) _(punc) , v_(N) _(repeat) _(+N) _(inner) _(−N) _(punc) ₊₁, . . . , v_(N) _(repeat) _(+N) _(inner) _(−N) _(punc) _(+N) _(AP) ⁻¹) may be selected. That is, the additional parity generator 319 may select N_(AP) bits from the first LDPC parity bit among the punctured LDPC parity bits to generate the additional parity bits.

Meanwhile, in the case of N_(AP)>N_(punc), as illustrated in FIG. 17, the additional parity generator 319 selects all the punctured LDPC parity bits.

Therefore, for the additional parity bits, all the punctured LDPC parity bits (v_(N) _(repeat) _(+N) _(inner) _(−N) _(punc) , v_(N) _(repeat) _(+N) _(inner) _(−N) _(punc) ₊₁, . . . , v_(N) _(repeat) _(+N) _(inner) ⁻¹) may be selected.

Further, the additional parity generator 319 may additionally select first N_(AP)−N_(punc) bits from the LDPC parity bits including the repeated LDPC parity bits and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding.

That is, since the repeated LDPC parity bits and the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding are sequentially arranged, the additional parity generator 319 may additionally select the N_(AP)−N_(punc) parity bits from the first LDPC parity bit among the LDPC parity bits added by the repetition.

Therefore, for the additional parity bits, the LDPC parity bits (v_(K) _(ldpc) , v_(K) _(ldpc) ₊₁, . . . , v_(K) _(ldpc) _(+N) _(AP) _(−N) _(punc) ⁻¹) may be additionally selected.

In this case, the additional parity generator 319 may add the additionally selected bits to the previously selected bits to generate the additional parity bits. That is, as illustrated in FIG. 17, the additional parity generator 319 may add the additionally selected LDPC parity bits to the punctured LDPC parity bits to generate the additional parity bits.

As a result, for the additional parity bits, (v_(N) _(repeat) _(+N) _(inner) _(−N) _(punc) , v_(N) _(repeat) _(+N) _(inner) _(−N) _(punc) ₊₁, . . . , v_(N) _(repeat) _(+N) _(inner) ⁻¹, v_(K) _(ldpc) , v_(K) _(ldpc) ₊₁, . . . , v_(K) _(ldpc) _(+N) _(AP) _(−N) _(punc) ⁻¹) may be selected.

As such, when the number of punctured bits is equal to or greater than the number of additional parity bits, the additional parity bits may be generated by selecting bits among the punctured bits based on the puncturing order. However, in other cases, the additional parity bits may be generated by selecting all the punctured bits and the N_(AP)−N_(punc) parity bits.

Since N_(repeat)=0 when repetition is not performed, the method for generating additional parity bits when the repetition is not performed is the same as the case in which N_(repeat)=0 in FIGS. 15 to 17.

The additional parity bits may be bit-interleaved, and may be mapped to constellation. In this case, the constellation for the additional parity bits may be generated by the same method as constellation for the L1-detail signaling bits transmitted in the current frame, in which the L1-detail signaling bits are repeated, punctured, and have the zero bits removed. Further, as illustrated in FIG. 14, after being mapped to the constellation, the additional parity bits may be added after the L1-detail signaling block in a frame before the current frame in which the L1-detail signaling of the current frame is transmitted.

The additional parity generator 319 may output the additional parity bits to a bit demultiplexer 323.

As described above in reference to Tables 9 and 10, the group-wise interleaving pattern defining the permutation order may have two patterns: a first pattern and a second pattern.

In detail, since the B value of above Equation 25 represents the minimum length of the LDPC parity bits to be punctured, the predetermined number of bits may be always punctured depending on the B value regardless of the length of the input signaling. For example, in the L1-detail mode 2, since B=6036 and the bit group is formed of 360 bits, even when the shortening length is 0, at least

$\left\lfloor \frac{6036}{360} \right\rfloor = 16$

bit groups are always punctured.

In this case, since the puncturing is performed from the last LDPC parity bit, the predetermined number of bit groups from a last bit group among the plurality of bit groups configuring the group-wise interleaved LDPC parity bits may be always punctured regardless of the shortening length.

For example, in the L1-detail mode 2, the last 16 bit groups among 36 bit groups configuring the group-wise interleaved LDPC parity bits may be always punctured.

As a result, some of the group-wise interleaving patterns defining the permutation order represent bit groups always to punctured, and therefore, the group-wise interleaving pattern may be divided into two patterns. In detail, a pattern defining the remaining bit groups other than the bit groups to be always punctured in the group-wise interleaving pattern is referred to as the first pattern, and the pattern defining the bit groups to be always punctured is referred to as the second pattern.

For example, in the L1-detail mode 2, since the group-wise interleaving pattern is defined as above Table 9, a pattern representing indexes of bit groups which are not group-wise interleaved and positioned in a 9-th bit group to a 28-th bit group after group-wise interleaving, that is, Y₉=X_(πp(9))=X₉, Y₁₀=X_(πp(10))=X₃₁, Y₁₁=X_(πp(11))=X₂₃, . . . , Y₂₆=X_(πp(26))=X₁₇, Y₂₇=X_(πp(27))=X₃₅, Y₂₈=X_(πp(28))=X₂₁ may be the first pattern, and a pattern representing indexes of bit groups which are not group-wise interleaved and positioned in a 29-th bit group to a 44-th bit group after group-wise interleaving, that is, Y₂₉=X_(πp(29))=X₂₀, Y₃₀=X_(πp(30))=X₂₄, Y₃₁=X_(πp(31))=X₄₄, . . . , Y₄₂=X_(πp(42))=X₂₈, Y₄₃=X_(πp(43))=X₃₉, Y₄₄=X_(πp(44))=X₄₂ may be the second pattern.

As described above, the second pattern defines bit groups to be always punctured in a current frame regardless of the shortening length, and the first pattern defines bit groups additionally to be punctured as the shortening length is long, such that the first pattern may be used to determine the LDPC parity bits to be transmitted in the current frame after the puncturing.

In detail, according to the number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured, in addition to the LDPC parity bits to be always punctured, more LDPC parity bits may additionally be punctured.

For example, in the L1-detail mode 2, when the number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured is 7200, 20 bit groups need to be punctured, and thus, four (4) bit groups need to be additionally punctured, in addition to the 16 bit groups to be always punctured.

In this case, the additionally punctured four (4) bit groups correspond to the bit groups positioned at 25-th to 28-th positions after group-wise interleaving, and since these bit groups are determined according to the first pattern, that is, belong to the first pattern, the first pattern may be used to determine the punctured bit groups.

That is, when LDPC parity bits are punctured more than a minimum value of LDPC parity bits to be punctured, which bit groups are to be additionally punctured is determined according to which bit groups are positioned after the bit groups to be always punctured. As a result, according to a puncturing direction, the first pattern which defines the bit groups positioned after the bit groups to be always punctured may be considered as determining the punctured bit groups.

That is, as in the foregoing example, when the number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured is 7200, in addition to the 16 bit groups to be always punctured, four (4) bit groups, that is, the bit groups positioned at 28-th, 27-th, 26-th, and 25-th positions, after group-wise interleaving is performed, are additionally punctured. Here, the bit groups positioned at 25-th to 28-th positions after the group-wise interleaving are determined according to the first pattern.

As a result, the first pattern may be considered as being used to determine the bit groups to be punctured. Further, the remaining LDPC parity bits other than the punctured LDPC parity bits are transmitted through the current frame, and therefore, the first pattern may be considered as being used to determine the bit groups transmitted in the current frame.

The second pattern may be used to determine the additional parity bits to be transmitted in the previous frame.

In detail, since the bit groups determined to be always punctured are always punctured, and then, are not transmitted in the current frame, these bit groups need to be positioned only where bits are always punctured after group-wise interleaving. Therefore, it is not important at which position of these bit groups are positioned after the group-wise interleaving.

For example, in the L1-detail mode 2, bit groups positioned at 20-th, 24-th, 44-th, . . . , 28-th, 39-th and 42-th positions before the group-wise interleaving need to be positioned only at a 29-th bit group to a 44-th bit group after the group-wise interleaving. Therefore, it is not important at which positions of these bit groups are positioned.

As such, the second pattern defining bit groups to be always punctured is used to identify bit groups to be punctured. Therefore, defining an order between the bit groups in the second pattern is meaningless in the puncturing, and thus, the second pattern defining bit groups to be always punctured may be considered as not being used for the puncturing.

However, for determining additional parity bits, positions of the bit groups to be always punctured within these bit groups need to be considered.

In detail, since the additional parity bits are generated by selecting bits as many as a predetermined number from the first bit among the punctured LDPC parity bits, bits included in at least some of the bit groups to be always punctured may be selected as at least some of the additional parity bits depending on the number of punctured LDPC parity bits and the number of additional parity bits to be generated.

That is, when additional parity bits are selected over the number of bit groups defined according to the first pattern, since the additional parity bits are sequentially selected from a start portion of the second pattern, the order of the bit groups belonging to the second pattern is meaningful in terms of selection of the additional parity bits. As a result, the second pattern defining bit groups to be always punctured may be considered as being used to determine the additional parity bits.

For example, in the L1-detail mode 2, the total number of LDPC parity bits is 12960 and the number of bit groups to be always punctured is 16.

In this case, the second pattern may be used to generate the additional parity bits depending on whether a value obtained by subtracting the number of LDPC parity bits to be punctured from the number of all LDPC parity bits and adding the subtraction result to the number of additional parity bits to be generated exceeds 7200. Here, 7200 is the number of LDPC parity bits except the bit groups to be always punctured, among the bit groups configuring the LDPC parity bits. That is, 7200=(36−16)×360.

In detail, when the value obtained by the above subtraction and addition is equal to or less than 7200, that is, 12960−N_(punc)−N_(AP)≦7200, the additional parity bits may be generated according to the first pattern.

However, when the value obtained by the above subtraction and addition exceeds 7200, that is, 12960−N_(punc)+N_(AP)>7200, the additional parity bits may be generated according to the first pattern and the second pattern.

In detail, when 12960−N_(punc)+N_(AP)>7200, for the additional parity bits, bits included in the bit group positioned at a 28-th position from the first LDPC parity bit among the punctured LDPC parity bits may be selected, and bits included in the bit group positioned at a predetermined position from a 29-th position may be selected.

Here, the bit group to which the first LDPC parity bit among the punctured LDPC parity bits belongs and the bit group (that is, when being sequentially selected from the first LDPC parity bit among the punctured LDPC parity bits, a bit group to which the finally selected LDPC parity bits belong) at the predetermined position may be determined depending on the number of punctured LDPC parity bits and the number of additional parity bits to be generated.

In this case, the bit group positioned at the 28-th position from the firth LDPC parity bit among the punctured LDPC parity bits is determined according to the first pattern, and the bit group positioned at the predetermined position from the 29-th position is determined according to the second pattern.

As a result, the additional parity bits are determined according to the first pattern and the second pattern.

As such, the first pattern may be used to determine additional parity bits to be generated as well as LDPC parity bits to be punctured, and the second pattern may be used to determine the additional parity bits to be generated and LDPC parity bits to be always punctured regardless of the number of parity bits to be punctured by the puncturers 217 and 318.

The foregoing example describes that the group-wise interleaving pattern includes the first pattern and the second pattern, which is only for convenience of explanation in terms of the puncturing and the additional parity. That is, the group-wise interleaving pattern may be considered as one pattern without being divided into the first pattern and the second pattern. In this case, the group-wise interleaving may be considered as being performed with one pattern both for the puncturing and the additional parity.

The values used in the foregoing example such as the number of punctured LDPC parity bits are only example values.

The zero removers 218 and 321 may remove zero bits padded by the zero padders 213 and 314 from the LDPC codewords output from the puncturers 217 and 318, and output the remaining bits to the bit demultiplexers 219 and 322.

Here, the removal does not only remove the padded zero bits but also may include outputting the remaining bits other than the padded zero bits in the LDPC codewords.

In detail, the zero removers 218 and 321 may remove K_(ldpc)−N_(outer) zero bits padded by the zero padders 213 and 314. Therefore, the K_(ldpc)−N_(outer) padded zero bits are removed, and thus, may not be transmitted to the receiver 200.

For example, as illustrated in FIG. 19, it is assumed that all bits of a first bit group, a fourth bit group, a fifth bit group, a seventh bit group, and an eighth bit group among a plurality of bit groups configuring an LDPC codeword are padded by zero bits, and some bits of the second bit group are padded by zero bits.

In this case, the zero removers 218 and 321 may remove the zero bits padded to the first bit group, the second bit group, the fourth bit group, the fifth bit group, the seventh bit group, and the eighth bit group.

As such, when zero bits are removed, as illustrated in FIG. 18, an LDPC codeword formed of K_(sig) information bits (that is, K_(sig) L1-basic signaling bits and K_(sig) L1-detail signaling bits), 168 BCH parity check bits (that is, BCH FEC), and N_(inner)−K_(ldpc)−N_(punc) or N_(inner)−K_(ldpc)−N_(punc)+N_(repeat) parity bits may remain.

That is, when repetition is performed, the lengths of all the LDPC codewords become N_(FEC)+N_(repeat). Here, N_(FEC)=N_(outer)+N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity)−N_(punc). However, in a mode in which the repetition is not performed, the lengths of all the LDPC codewords become N_(FEC).

The bit demultiplexers 219 and 322 may interleave the bits output from the zero removers 218 and 321, demultiplex the interleaved bits, and then output them to the constellation mappers 221 and 324.

For this purpose, the bit demultiplexers 219 and 322 may include a block interleaver (not illustrated) and a demultiplexer (not illustrated).

First, a block interleaving scheme performed in the block interleaver is illustrated in FIG. 19.

In detail, the bits of the N_(FEC) or N_(FEC)+N_(repeat) length after the zero bits are removed may be column-wisely serially written in the block interleaver. Here, the number of columns of the block interleaver is equivalent to the modulation order and the number of rows is N_(FEC)/η_(MOD) or (N_(FEC)+N_(repeat))/η_(MOD).

Further, in a read operation, bits for one constellation symbol may be sequentially read in a row direction to be input to the demultiplexer. The operation may be continued to the last row of the column.

That is, the N_(FEC) or (N_(FEC)+N_(repeat)) bits may be written in a plurality of columns in a column direction from the first row of the first column, and the bits written in the plurality of columns are sequentially read from the first row to the last row of the plurality of columns in a row direction. In this case, the bits read in the same row may configure one modulation symbol.

The demultiplexer may demultiplex the bits output from the block interleaver.

In detail, the demultiplexer may demultiplex each of the block-interleaved bit groups, that is, the bits output while being read in the same row of the block interleaver within the bit group bit-by-bit, before the bits are mapped to constellation.

In this case, two mapping rules may be present according to the modulation order.

In detail, when QPSK is used for modulation, since reliability of bits within a constellation symbol is the same, the demultiplexer does not perform the demultiplexing operation on a bit group. Therefore, the bit group read and output from the block interleaver may be mapped to a QPSK symbol without the demultiplexing operation.

However, when high order modulation is used, the demultiplexer may perform demultiplexing on a bit group read and output from the block interleaver based on following Equation 31. That is, a bit group may be mapped to a QAM symbol depending on following Equation 31.

S _(demux) _(_) _(in(i)) ={b _(i)(0),b _(i)(1),b _(i)(2), . . . ,b _(i)(η_(MOD)−1)},

S _(demux) _(_) _(out(i)) ={c _(i)(0),c _(i)(1),c _(i)(2), . . . ,c _(i)(η_(MOD)−1)},

c _(i)(0)=b _(i)(i%η_(MOD))c _(i)(1)=b _(i)((i+1)% η_(MOD)), . . . ,c _(i)(η_(MOD)−1)=b _(i)((i+η _(MOD)−1)% η_(MOD))   (31)

In above Equation 31, % represents a modulo operation, and η_(MOD) is a modulation order.

Further, i is a bit group index corresponding to a row index of the block interleaver. That is, an output bit group S_(demux) _(_) _(out(i)) mapped to each of the QAM symbols may be cyclic-shifted in an S_(demux) _(_) _(in(i)) according to the bit group index i.

FIG. 20 illustrates an example of performing bit demultiplexing on 16-non uniform constellation (16-NUC), that is, NUC 16-QAM. The operation may be continued until all bit groups are read in the block interleaver.

The bit demultiplexer 323 may perform the same operation as the operations performed by the bit demultiplexers 219 and 322, on the additional parity bits output from the additional parity generator 319, and output the block-interleaved and demultiplexed bits to the constellation mapper 325.

The constellation mappers 221, 324 and 325 may map the bits output from the bit demultiplexers 219, 322 and 323 to constellation symbols, respectively.

That is, each of the constellation mappers 221, 324 and 325 may map the S_(demux) _(_) _(out(i)) to a cell word using constellation according to a corresponding mode. Here, the S_(demux) _(_) _(out(i)) may be configured of bits having the same number as the modulation order.

In detail, the constellation mappers 221, 324 and 325 may map bits output from the bit demultiplexers 219, 322 and 323 to constellation symbols using QPSK, 16-QAM, 64-QAM, the 256-QAM, etc., according to a corresponding mode.

In this case, the constellation mappers 221, 324 and 325 may use the NUC. That is, the constellation mappers 221, 324 and 325 may use NUC 16-QAM, NUC 64-QAM or NUC 256-QAM. The modulation scheme applied to the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling according to a corresponding mode is shown in above Table 4.

The transmitter 100 may map the constellation symbols to a frame and transmit the mapped symbols to the receiver 200.

In detail, the transmitter 100 may map the constellation symbols corresponding to each of the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling output from the constellation mappers 221 and 324, and map the constellation symbols corresponding to the additional parity bits output from the constellation mapper 325 to a preamble symbol of a frame.

In this case, the transmitter 100 may map the additional parity bits generated based on the L1-detail signaling transmitted in the current frame to a frame before the current frame.

That is, the transmitter 100 may map the LDPC codeword bits including the L1-basic signaling corresponding to the (i−1)-th frame to the (i−1)-th frame, maps the LDPC codeword bits including the L1-detail signaling corresponding to the (i−1)-th frame to the (i−1)-th frame, and additionally map the additional parity bits generated selected from the LDPC parity bits generated based on the L1-detail signaling corresponding to the i-th frame to the (i−1)-th frame and may transmit the mapped bits to the receiver 200.

In addition, the transmitter 100 may map data to the data symbols of the frame in addition to the L1 signaling and transmit the frame including the L1 signaling and the data to the receiver 200.

In this case, since the L1 signalings include signaling information about the data, the signaling about the data mapped to each data may be mapped to a preamble of a corresponding frame. For example, the transmitter 100 may map the L1 signaling including the signaling information about the data mapped to the i-th frame to the i-th frame.

FIGS. 21 and 22 are block diagrams for describing a configuration of a receiver according to an exemplary embodiment.

In detail, as illustrated in FIG. 21, the receiver 200 may include a constellation demapper 2510, a multiplexer 2520, a Log Likelihood Ratio (LLR) inserter 2530, an LLR combiner 2540, a parity depermutator 2550, an LDPC decoder 2560, a zero remover 2570, a BCH decoder 2580, and a descrambler 2590 to process the L1-basic signaling.

Further, as illustrated in FIG. 22, the receiver 200 may include constellation demappers 2611 and 2612, multiplexers 2621 and 2622, an LLR inserter 2630, an LLR combiner 2640, a parity depermutator 2650, an LDPC decoder 2660, a zero remover 2670, a BCH decoder 2680, a descrambler 2690, and a desegmenter 2695 to process the L1-detail signaling.

Here, the components illustrated in FIGS. 21 and 22 perform functions corresponding to the function of the components illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, respectively, which is only an example, and in some cases, some of the components may be omitted and changed and other components may be added.

The receiver 200 may acquire the frame synchronization using the bootstrap of the frame and receive the L1-basic signaling from the preamble of the frame using the information for processing the L1-basic signaling included in the bootstrap.

Further, the receiver 200 may receive the L1-detail signaling from the preamble using the information for processing the L1-detail signaling included in the L1-basic signaling and receive broadcasting data required by the user from the data symbols of the frame using the L1-detail signaling. In this case, the receiver 200 may acquire information on whether the transmitter 100 processes the L1-basic signaling based on any mode from the bootstrap and acquire information on whether the transmitter 100 processes the L1-detail signaling based on any mode from the L1-basic signaling.

Therefore, the receiver 200 may determine a mode used at the transmitter 100 to process the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling, and process a signal received from the transmitter 100 according to the determined mode to receive the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling. For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters used at the transmitter 100 to process the signaling according to corresponding modes.

As such, the L1-basic signaling and the L1-detail signaling may be sequentially acquired from the preamble. In describing FIGS. 21 and 22, components performing common functions will be described together for convenience of explanation.

The constellation demappers 2510, 2611, and 2612 demodulate a signal received from the transmitter 100.

In detail, the constellation demappers 2510, 2611, and 2612 are components corresponding to the constellation mappers 221, 324, and 325 of the transmitter 100 and may demodulate the signal received from the transmitter 100, respectively, and generate values corresponding to bits transmitted from the transmitter 100.

That is, as described above, the transmitter 100 maps an LDPC codeword including the L1-basic signaling and the LDPC codeword including the L1-detail signaling to the preamble of a frame, and transmits the mapped LDPC codeword to the receiver 200. Further, in some cases, the transmitter 100 may map additional parity bits to the preamble of a frame and transmit the mapped bits to the receiver 200.

As a result, the constellation demappers 2510 and 2611 may generate values corresponding to the LDPC codeword bits including the L1-basic signaling and the LDPC codeword bits including the L1-detail signaling. Further, the constellation demapper 2612 may generate values corresponding to the additional parity bits.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about a modulation scheme used by the transmitter 100 to modulate the L1-basic signaling, the L1-detail signaling, and the additional parity bits according to corresponding modes. Therefore, the constellation demappers 2510, 2611 and 2612 may demodulate the signal received from the transmitter 100 according to the corresponding modes to generate values corresponding to the LDPC codeword bits and the additional parity bits.

The value corresponding to a bit transmitted from the transmitter 100 is a value calculated based on probability that a received bit is 0 and 1, and instead, the probability itself may also be used as a value corresponding to each bit. The value may also be a Likelihood Ratio (LR) or an LLR value as another example.

In detail, an LR value may represent a ratio of probability that a bit transmitted from the transmitter 100 is 0 and probability that the bit is 1, and an LLR value may represent a value obtained by taking a log on probability that the bit transmitted from the transmitter 100 is 0 and probability that the bit is 1.

The foregoing example uses the LR value or the LLR value, which is only one example. According to another exemplary embodiment, the received signal itself rather than the LR or LLR value may also be used.

The multiplexers 2520, 2621 and 2622 perform multiplexing on the LLR values output from the constellation demappers 2510, 2611 and 2612.

In detail, the multiplexers 2520, 2621 and 2622 are components corresponding to the bit demultiplexers 219, 322 and 323 of the transmitter 100 and may perform operations corresponding to the operations of the bit demultiplexers 219, 322 and 323, respectively.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters used for the transmitter 100 to perform demultiplexing and block interleaving. Therefore, the multiplexers 2520, 2621 and 2622 may reversely perform the demultiplexing and block interleaving operations of the bit demultiplexers 219, 322 and 323 on the LLR value corresponding to a cell word to multiplex the LLR value corresponding to the cell word in a bit unit.

The LLR inserters 2530 and 2630 may insert LLR values for the puncturing and shortening bits into the LLR values output from the multiplexers 2520 and 2621, respectively. In this case, the LLR inserters 2530 and 2630 may insert previously determined LLR values between the LLR values output from the multiplexers 2520 and 2621 or a head portion or an end portion thereof.

In detail, the LLR inserters 2530 and 2630 are components corresponding to the zero removers 218 and 321 and the puncturers 217 and 318 of the transmitter 100, respectively, and may perform operations corresponding to the operations of the zero removers 218 and 321 and the puncturers 217 and 318, respectively.

First, the LLR inserters 2530 and 2630 may insert LLR values corresponding to zero bits into a position where the zero bits in the LDPC codeword are padded. In this case, the LLR values corresponding to the padded zero bits, that is, the shortened zero bits may be ∞ or −∞. However, ∞ or −∞ are a theoretical value but may actually be a maximum value or a minimum value of the LLR value used in the receiver 200.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters and/or patterns used for the transmitter 100 to pad the zero bits according to corresponding modes. Therefore, the LLR inserters 2530 and 2630 may determine positions where the zero bits in the LDPC codeword are padded according to the corresponding the modes, and insert the LLR values corresponding to the shortened zero bits into corresponding positions.

Further, the LLR inserters 2530 and 2630 may insert the LLR values corresponding to the punctured bits into the positions of the punctured bits in the LDPC codeword. In this case, the LLR values corresponding to the punctured bits may be 0.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters and/or patterns used for the transmitter 100 to perform puncturing according to corresponding modes. Therefore, the LLR inserters 2530 and 2630 may determine the lengths of the punctured LDPC parity bits according to the corresponding modes, and insert corresponding LLR values into the positions where the LDPC parity bits are punctured.

When the additional parity bits selected from the punctured bits among the additional parity bits, the LLR inserter 2630 may insert LLR values corresponding to the received additional parity bits, not an LLR value ‘0’ for the punctured bit, into the positions of the punctured bits.

The LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may combine, that is, a sum the LLR values output from the LLR inserters 2530 and 2630 and the LLR value output from the multiplexer 2622. However, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 serve to update LLR values for specific bits into more correct values. However, the LLR values for the specific bits may also be decoded from the received LLR values without the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640, and therefore in some cases, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may be omitted.

In detail, the LLR combiner 2540 is a component corresponding to the repeater 216 of the transmitter 100, and may perform an operation corresponding to the operation of the repeater 216. Alternatively, the LLR combiner 2640 is a component corresponding to the repeater 317 and the additional parity generator 319 of the transmitter 100 and may perform operations corresponding to the operations of the repeater 317 and the additional parity generator 319.

First, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may combine LLR values corresponding to the repetition bits with other LLR values. Here, the other LLR values may be bits which are a basis of generating the repetition bits by the transmitter 100, that is, LLR values for the LDPC parity bits selected as the repeated object.

That is, as described above, the transmitter 100 selects bits from the LDPC parity bits and repeats the selected bits between the LDPC information bits and the LDPC parity bits generated by LDPC encoding, and transmits the repetition bits to the receiver 200.

As a result, the LLR values for the LDPC parity bits may be formed of the LLR values for the repeated LDPC parity bits and the LLR values for the non-repeated LDPC parity bits, that is, the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding. Therefore, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may combine the LLR values for the same LDPC parity bits.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters used for the transmitter 100 to perform the repetition according to corresponding modes. As a result, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may determine the lengths of the repeated LDPC parity bits, determine the positions of the bits which are a basis of the repetition, and combine the LLR values for the repeated LDPC parity bits with the LLR values for the LDPC parity bits which are a basis of the repetition and generated by the LDPC encoding.

For example, as illustrated in FIGS. 27 and 28, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may combine LLR values for repeated LDPC parity bits with LLR values for LDPC parity bits which are a basis of the repetition and generated by the LDPC encoding.

When LPDC parity bits are repeated n times, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may combine LLR values for bits at the same position at n times or less.

For example, FIG. 23 illustrates a case in which some of LDPC parity bits other than punctured bits are repeated once. In this case, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may combine LLR values for the repeated LDPC parity bits with LLR values for the LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding, and then, output the combined LLR values or output the LLR values for the received repeated LDPC parity bits or the LLR values for the received LDPC parity bits generated by the LDPC encoding without combining them.

As another example, FIG. 24 illustrates a case in which some of the transmitted LDPC parity bits, which are not punctured, are repeated twice, the remaining portions are repeated once, and the punctured LDPC parity bits are repeated once.

In this case, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may process the remaining portion and the punctured bits which are repeated once by the same scheme as described above. However, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may process the portion repeated twice as follows. In this case, for convenience of description, one of the two portions generated by repeating some of the LDPC parity bits twice is referred to as a first portion and the other is referred to as the second portion.

In detail, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may combine LLR values for each of the first and second portions with LLR values for the LDPC parity bits. Alternatively, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may combine the LLR values for the first portion with the LLR values for the LDPC parity bits, combine the LLR values for the second portion with the LLR values for the LDPC parity bits, or combine the LLR values for the first portion with the LLR values for the second portion. Alternatively, the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640 may output the LLR values for the first portion, the LLR values for the second portion, the LLR values for the remaining portion, and punctured bits, without separate combination.

Further, the LLR combiner 2640 may combine LLR values corresponding to additional parity bits with other LLR values. Here, the other LLR values may be the LDPC parity bits which are a basis of the generation of the additional parity bits by the transmitter 100, that is, the LLR values for the LDPC parity bits selected for the generation of additional parity bits.

That is, as described above, the transmitter 100 may map additional parity bits for L1-detail signaling transmitted in a current frame to a previous frame and transmit the mapped bits to the receiver 200.

In this case, the additional parity bits may include the LDPC parity bits which are punctured and are not transmitted in the current frame and in some cases, may further include LDPC parity bits transmitted in the current frame.

As a result, the LLR combiner 2640 may combine LLR values for the additional parity bits received through the current frame with LLR values inserted into the positions of the punctured LDPC parity bits in the LDPC codeword received through the next frame and LLR values for the LDPC parity bits received through the next frame.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters and/or patterns used for the transmitter 100 to generate the additional parity bits according to corresponding modes. As a result, the LLR combiner 2640 may determine the lengths of the additional parity bits, determine the positions of the LDPC parity bits which are a basis of generation of the additional parity bits, and combine the LLR values for the additional parity bits with the LLR values for the LDPC parity bits which are a basis of generation of the additional parity bits.

The parity depermutators 2550 and 2650 may depermutate the LLR values output from the LLR combiners 2540 and 2640, respectively.

In detail, the parity depermutators 2550 and 2650 are components corresponding to the parity permutators 215 and 316 of the transmitter 100 and may perform operations corresponding to the operations of the parity permutators 215 and 316, respectively.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters and/or patterns used for the transmitter 100 to perform group-wise interleaving and parity interleaving according to corresponding modes. Therefore, the parity depermutators 2550 and 2650 may reversely perform the group-wise interleaving and parity interleaving operations of the parity permutators 215 and 316 on the LLR values corresponding to the LDPC codeword bits, that is, perform group-wise deinterleaving and parity deinterleaving operations to perform the parity depermutation on the LLR values corresponding to the LDPC codeword bits, respectively.

The LDPC decoders 2560 and 2660 may perform LDPC decoding based on the LLR values output from the parity depermutators 2550 and 2650.

In detail, the LDPC decoders 2560 and 2660 are components corresponding to the LDPC encoders 214 and 315 of the transmitter 100 and may perform operations corresponding to the operations of the LDPC encoders 214 and 315, respectively.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters used for the transmitter 100 to perform the LDPC encoding according to corresponding modes. Therefore, the LDPC decoders 2560 and 2660 may perform the LDPC decoding based on the LLR values output from the parity depermutators 2350 and 2450 according to the corresponding modes.

For example, the LDPC decoders 2560 and 2660 may perform the LDPC decoding based on the LLR values output from the parity depermutators 2550 and 2650 by iterative decoding based on a sum-product algorithm and output error-corrected bits depending on the LDPC decoding.

The zero removers 2570 and 2670 may remove zero bits from the bits output from the LDPC decoders 2560 and 2660, respectively.

In detail, the zero removers 2570 and 2670 are components corresponding to the zero padders 213 and 314 of the transmitter 100 and may perform operations corresponding to the operations of the zero padders 213 and 314, respectively.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters and/or patterns used for the transmitter 100 to pad the zero bits according to corresponding modes. As a result, the zero removers 2570 and 2670 may remove the zero bits padded by the zero padders 213 and 314 from the bits output from the LDPC decoders 2560 and 2660, respectively.

The BCH decoders 2580 and 2680 may perform BCH decoding on the bits output from the zero removers 2570 and 2670, respectively.

In detail, the BCH decoders 2580 and 2680 are components corresponding to the BCH encoders 212 and 313 of the transmitter 100 and may perform the operations corresponding to the BCH encoders 212 and 313.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store the information about parameters used to for the transmitter 100 to perform BCH encoding. As a result, the BCH decoders 2580 and 2680 may correct errors by performing the BCH decoding on the bits output from the zero removers 2570 and 2670 and output the error-corrected bits.

The descramblers 2590 and 2690 may descramble the bits output from the BCH decoders 2580 and 2680, respectively.

In detail, the descramblers 2590 and 2690 are components corresponding to the scramblers 211 and 312 of the transmitter 100 and may perform operations corresponding to the operations of the scramblers 211 and 312, respectively.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters used for the transmitter 100 to perform the scrambling. As a result, the descramblers 2590 and 2690 may descramble the bits output from the BCH decoders 2580 and 2680 and output them, respectively.

As a result, L1-basic signaling transmitted from the transmitter 100 may be recovered. Further, when the transmitter 100 does not perform segmentation on L1-detail signaling, the L1-detail signaling transmitted from the transmitter 100 may also be recovered.

However, when the transmitter 100 performs the segmentation on the L1-detail signaling, the desegmenter 2695 may desegment the bits output from the descrambler 2690.

In detail, the desegmenter 2695 is a component corresponding to the segmenter 311 of the transmitter 100 and may perform an operation corresponding to the operation of the segmenter 311.

For this purpose, the receiver 200 may pre-store information about parameters used for the transmitter 100 to perform the segmentation. As a result, the desegmenter 2695 may combine the bits output from the descrambler 2690, that is, the segments for the L1-detail signaling to recover the L1-detail signaling before the segmentation.

The information about the length of the L1 signaling is provided as illustrated in FIG. 25. Therefore, the receiver 200 may calculate the length of the L1-detail signaling and the length of the additional parity bits.

Referring to FIG. 25, since the L1-basic signaling provides information about L1-detail total cells, the receiver 200 needs to calculate the length of the L1-detail signaling and the lengths of the additional parity bits.

In detail, when L1B_L1_Detail_additional_parity_mode of the L1-basic signaling is not 0, since the information on the given L1B_L1 Detail_total_cells represents a total cell length (=N_(L1) _(_) _(detail) _(_) _(total)cells)), detail the receiver 200 may calculate the length N_(L1) _(_) _(detail) _(_) _(cells) of the L1-detail signaling and the length N_(AP) _(_) _(total) _(_) _(cells) of the additional parity bits based on following Equations 32 to 35.

$\begin{matrix} {N_{L\; 1\; \_ \; {FEC}\; \_ \; {cells}} = {\frac{N_{outer} + N_{repeat} + N_{{idpc}\; \_ \; {parity}} - N_{punc}}{\eta_{MOD}} = \frac{N_{FEC}}{\eta_{MOD}}}} & (32) \\ {N_{L\; 1\; \_ \; {detail}\; \_ \; {cells}} = {N_{L\; 1D\; \_ \; {FECFRAME}} \times N_{L\; 1\; \_ \; {FEC}\; \_ \; {cells}}}} & (33) \\ {N_{{AP}\; \_ \; {total}\; \_ \; {cells}} = {N_{L\; 1\_ \; {detail}\; \_ \; {total}\; \_ \; {cells}} - N_{L\; 1\; \_ \; {detail}\; \_ \; {cells}}}} & (34) \end{matrix}$

In this case, based on above Equations 32 to 34, an N_(AP) _(_) _(total) _(_) _(cells) value may be obtained based on an N_(L1) _(_) _(detail) _(_) _(total) _(_) _(cells) value which may be obtained from the information about the L1B_L1_Detail_total_cells of the L1-basic signaling, N_(FEC), the N_(L1D) _(_) _(FECFRAME), and the modulation order η_(MOD). As an example, N_(AP) _(_) _(total) _(_) _(cells) may be calculated based on following Equation 35.

$\begin{matrix} {N_{{AP}\; \_ \; {total}\; \_ \; {cells}} = {N_{L\; 1\_ \; {detail}\; \_ \; {total}\; \_ \; {cells}} - {N_{L\; 1\; D\; \_ \; {FECFRAME}} \times \frac{N_{FEC}}{\eta_{MOD}}}}} & (35) \end{matrix}$

Meanwhile, a syntax, and field semantics of the L1-basic signaling field are as following Table 13.

TABLE 13 # of Syntax bits Format L1_Basic_signaling( ) {       L1B_L1_Detail_size_bits 16 uimsbf       L1B_L1_Detail_fec_type 3 uimsbf       L1B_L1_Detail_additional_parity_mode 2 uimsbf       L1B_L1_Detail_total_cells 19 uimsbf       L1B_Reserved ? uimsbf       L1B_crc 32 uimsbf {

As a result, the receiver 200 may perform an operation of a receiver for the additional parity bits in a next frame based on the additional parity bits transmitted to the N_(AP) _(_) _(total) _(_) _(cells) cell among the received L1 detail cells.

FIG. 26 is a flow chart for describing a puncturing method of a transmitter according to an exemplary embodiment.

First, parity bits are generated by encoding input bits including outer encoded bits and zero bits (S2310).

Further, some of the parity bits are punctured (S2320).

Here, in S2320, the number of parity bits to be punctured based on N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) calculated based on above Equation 8 is calculated.

In this case, in above Equation 8, A may be a ratio of the number of parity bits to be punctured to the number of zero bits to be shortened and B may be the minimum number of parity bits to be punctured.

In detail, when A and B have the modulation order of 2, A=0, B=9360, A=0, B=11460, or A=0, B=12360.

Further, the A and B have the modulation order of 2, A=2, B=6036 or A=11/16, B=4653.

In S2320, N_(FEC) is calculated based on above Equation 10, and the number N_(punc) of parity bits to be punctured is calculated based on above Equation 11. Further, in S2320, the calculated number of parity bits may be punctued from the last parity bit of the parity bits.

FIG. 27 is a flow chart for describing a puncturing method according to an exemplary embodiment.

First, parity bits are generated by encoding input bits including zero bits (S2410).

Further, some of the parity bits are punctured (S2420).

Here, in S2420, the number of parity bits to be punctured based on N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) calculated based on above Equation 9 is calculated.

In this case, in above Equation 9, B is determined as different values at different modulation orders.

In detail, when the modulation order is 2, B is 9360, 11460 or 12360, when the modulation order is 4, the B is 12292, when the modulation order is 6, the B is 12350, and when the modulation order is 8, the B is 12432 or 12776.

Detailed methods for puncturing LDPC parity bits associated with FIGS. 24 and 25 are described above, and thus, duplicate descriptions are omitted.

A non-transitory computer readable medium in which a program sequentially executing the puncturing methods according to the present exemplary embodiments are stored may be provided.

The non-transitory computer readable medium is not a medium that stores data therein for a while, such as a register, a cache, a memory, or the like, but means a medium that semi-permanently stores data therein and is readable by a device. In detail, various applications or programs described above may be stored and provided in the non-transitory computer readable medium such as a compact disk (CD), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a hard disk, a Blu-ray disk, a universal serial bus (USB), a memory card, a read only memory (ROM), or the like.

At least one of the components, elements, modules or units represented by a block as illustrated in FIGS. 1, 7, 8, 23 and 24 may be embodied as various numbers of hardware, software and/or firmware structures that execute respective functions described above, according to an exemplary embodiment. For example, at least one of these components, elements, modules or units may use a direct circuit structure, such as a memory, a processor, a logic circuit, a look-up table, etc. that may execute the respective functions through controls of one or more microprocessors or other control apparatuses. Also, at least one of these components, elements, modules or units may be specifically embodied by a module, a program, or a part of code, which contains one or more executable instructions for performing specified logic functions, and executed by one or more microprocessors or other control apparatuses. Also, at least one of these components, elements, modules or units may further include or implemented by a processor such as a central processing unit (CPU) that performs the respective functions, a microprocessor, or the like. Two or more of these components, elements, modules or units may be combined into one single component, element, module or unit which performs all operations or functions of the combined two or more components, elements, modules or units. Also, at least part of functions of at least one of these components, elements, modules or units may be performed by another of these components, elements, modules or units. Further, although a bus is not illustrated in the above block diagrams, communication between the components, elements, modules or units may be performed through the bus. Functional aspects of the above exemplary embodiments may be implemented in algorithms that execute on one or more processors. Furthermore, the components, elements, modules or units represented by a block or processing steps may employ any number of related art techniques for electronics configuration, signal processing and/or control, data processing and the like.

Although the exemplary embodiments of inventive concept have been illustrated and described hereinabove, the inventive concept is not limited to the above-mentioned exemplary embodiments, but may be variously modified by those skilled in the art to which the inventive concept pertains without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventive concept as disclosed in the accompanying claims. For example, the exemplary embodiments are described in relation with BCH encoding and decoding and LDPC encoding and decoding. However, these embodiments do not limit the inventive concept to only a particular encoding and decoding, and instead, the inventive concept may be applied to different types of encoding and decoding with necessary modifications. These modifications should also be understood to fall within the scope of the inventive concept. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A transmitter, comprising: an LDPC encoder configured to encode input bits including outer encoded bits and zero bits to generate parity bits; and a puncturer configured to puncture some of the parity bits, wherein the puncturer calculates the number of parity bits to be punctured based on N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) calculated based on a following equation: N _(punc) _(_) _(temp) =└A×(K _(ldpc) −N _(outer))┘+B, where N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) represents a temporary number of parity bits to be punctured, N_(outer) represents the number of the outer-encoded bits, K_(ldpc) represents the number of LDPC information bits comprising the outer-encoded bits and zero bits, and A and B represent predetermined constants, and at least one of the A and B is determined as different value corresponding to different robustness levels at the same modulation order.
 2. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the at least one of A and B is changed to a different value corresponding to the different robustness level while the same modulation order is used for symbol mapping.
 3. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the A represents a ratio of the number of parity bits to be punctured to a number of zero bits to be shortened, and the B represents the minimum number of parity bits to be punctured.
 4. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein when A and B have a modulation order of 2, A=0, B=9360, A=0, B=11460, or A=0, B=12360.
 5. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein when A and B have a modulation order of 2, A=2, B=6036 or A=11/16, B=4653.
 6. The transmitter of claim 1, wherein the puncturer calculates N_(FEC) based on a following equation. ${N_{FEC} = {\left\lceil \frac{N_{{FEC}\; \_ \; {temp}}}{\eta_{MOD}} \right\rceil \times \eta_{MOD}}},$ where N_(FEC) represents a number of bits constituting LDPC codeword after puncturing and shortening, N_(FEC) _(_) _(temp)=N_(outer)+N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity)−N_(punc) _(_) _(temp), N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity) represents a number of the parity bits generated by the LDPC encoder, and η_(MOD) represents a modulation order.
 7. The transmitter of claim 6, wherein the puncturer calculates N_(punc) based on a following equation: N _(punc) =N _(punch) _(_) _(temp)−(N _(FEC) −N _(FEC) _(_) _(temp)), where N_(punc) represents the number of parity bits to be punctured.
 8. The transmitter of claim 7, wherein the puncturer punctures the N_(punc) number of parity bits from a last parity bit of the parity bits.
 9. A puncturing method of a transmitter, comprising: encoding input bits including outer encoded bits and zero bits to generate parity bits; and puncturing some of the parity bits, wherein the puncturing calculates the number of parity bits to be punctured based on N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) calculated based on a following equation: N _(punc) _(_) _(temp) =└A×(K _(ldpc) −N _(outer))┘+B, where N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) represents a temporary number of parity bits to be punctured, N_(outer) represents the number of the outer-encoded bits, K_(ldpc) represents the number of the LDPC information bits comprising the outer-encoded bits and zero bits, and A and B represent predetermined constants at least one of the A and B is determined as different value corresponding to different robustness levels at the same modulation order.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the at least one of A and B is changed to a different value corresponding to the different robustness level while the same modulation order is used for symbol mapping.
 11. The method of claim 9, wherein A represents a ratio of the number of parity bits to be punctured to a number of zero bits to be shortened, and B represents the minimum number of parity bits to be punctured.
 12. The method of claim 9, wherein when A and B have a modulation order of 2, A=0, B=9360, A=0, B=11460, or A=0, B=12360.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein when A and B have a modulation order of 2, A=2, B=6036 or A=11/16, B=4653.
 14. The method of claim 9, wherein the puncturer calculates N_(FEC) based on a following equation. ${N_{FEC} = {\left\lceil \frac{N_{{FEC}\; \_ \; {temp}}}{\eta_{MOD}} \right\rceil \times \eta_{MOD}}},$ where N_(FEC) represents a number of bits constituting LDPC codeword after puncturing and shortening, N_(FEC) _(_) _(temp)=N_(outer)+N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity)−N_(punc) _(_) _(temp), N_(ldpc) _(_) _(parity) represents a number of the parity bits generated by the encoding, and η_(MOD) represents a modulation order.
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the puncturer calculates N_(punc) based on a following equation: N _(punc) =N _(punch) _(_) _(temp)−(N _(FEC) −N _(FEC) _(_) _(temp)), where N_(punc) represents the number of parity bits to be punctured.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein the puncturing punctures the N_(punc) number of parity bits from a last parity bit of the parity bits.
 17. A transmitter, comprising: an LDPC encoder configured to encode input bits including zero bits to generate parity bits; and a puncturer configured to puncture some of the parity bits, wherein the puncturer calculates the number of punctured parity bits based on N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) calculated based on a following equation: N _(punc) _(_) _(temp) =B, where the N_(punc) _(_) _(temp) represents a temporary number of parity bits to be punctured and B represents predetermined constant, and B is determined as different value at different modulation orders.
 18. The transmitter as claimed in claim 17, wherein when a modulation order is 2, B is 9360, 11460 or 12360, when the modulation order is 4, B is 12292, when the modulation order is 6, B is 12350, and when the modulation order is 8, B is 12432 or
 12776. 